


Two Aliens Are Better than One

by I am not sure I like this show (thisisnotanendorsement)



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alien Invasion, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crossover, Episode Related, F/M, Gen, Pre-Relationship, Some Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-03
Updated: 2016-12-22
Packaged: 2018-09-06 04:06:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 44,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8734297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisnotanendorsement/pseuds/I%20am%20not%20sure%20I%20like%20this%20show
Summary: What's the best thing combat an alien invasion? More aliens.Or... When Barry and Cisco go to recruit Kara, she's not alone.The chaptered, extended version.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so after the response I got on the opening bit/teaser/attempt to get it out of my system thing I did, I decided to go ahead and try and make this a full chaptered story. Um... Yeah.
> 
> I figured I'd flesh out a few things along the way, trying to make the story a well-rounded piece. I kind of had this whole rant when watching the crossover that it wasn't developed very well (I would have told the story by having the aliens come, whoever was fighting them lose, go for help at the end of their episode and spill it over into the next one, not pull in all the help without knowing much of anything about the aliens.) Anyway, I figured I could add in a few things that were left out, and to that end, I let Barry and Cisco spend a bit more time in Kara's world than was shown on screen.
> 
> Okay, so it was a shameless excuse for Cisco and Mon-El to talk, but it is kind of funny, and I liked it, so I'm keeping it.
> 
> And yes, the first scene is still basically the same, minus a minor word change or two, but it wouldn't make sense without it, and I wanted to leave the other as almost a stand alone.

* * *

“You don't have to do this, you know,” Mon-El said as he walked into Kara's building with her. He wasn't sure when he'd made the mistake of offering to help with the groceries, but she'd bought twice what she'd planned on when she went to the store, and while she hadn't said it, he knew that was because of him.

He actually thought it might not be enough food for the two of them, but he wasn't going to say so, since he wasn't the one buying the food. He still didn't have a job, not after she'd shamed him out of the last one, so he had no funds of his own on this planet.

“Sure I do,” Kara said. She gave him a small smile. “I know you think I'm hovering a little too much because you almost died—”

“And apparently drooled,” he said, getting a much bigger smile from her.

“And drooled,” she agreed, pushing the button for the elevator. She could have flown up, though he supposed she didn't do that with groceries. “But I'm not. I said I was going to help you acclimate to life on earth, and I keep messing that up or not really finishing what we started. I tried to make you like me and Clark, and that's not what you are. We did some training, but not enough, and that's also me trying to make you like us—which you're not, but you could still use some more because you've been hurt a lot lately—but that also has to wait because you were hurt a lot lately and—”

“Kara, you can slow down a little,” Mon-El said, though he found her amusing like this. Somehow that quality was appealing, though he wouldn't have thought so before losing Daxam and everything he'd ever known.

She flushed, getting a little red as she ducked into the elevator. “Sorry. I'm just—I really want to do this for you. I know you have a place right now, but you won't really feel like you're a part of this world until you have a home. For me, that was when I was taken in by the Danvers. You're an adult, though, so you need an apartment of your own.”

“I don't have any money,” Mon-El reminded her as he got in next to her.

“I know,” she said as she hit the button for her floor, “but I think that the apartment is a step toward that. See, you need a permanent address for most jobs, and once you have a place of your own, a sanctuary—a man cave—you will see the value of earning your own keep.”

Mon-El snorted. He doubted that, but he did like the idea of having more privacy than he did at the DEO, so that part would be worth it. “Did you bring me here because there was an opening in your building?”

She didn't seem all that comfortable with that idea. He wondered if that had something to do with the kiss. He should never have done that, and if he hadn't been dying, he wouldn't have. It was one of those things you did because you didn't figure you'd live to regret it.

“I figured we'd start by getting a list of properties from the internet and go through them. So we'll eat, we'll make a preliminary list, and then we'll go visit the likely prospects,” Kara said. “You ready to get started?”

“Yes,” Mon-El told her as the doors opened. He followed her out of the elevator and over to her apartment. She unlocked the door and stepped inside.

“Barry?” Kara asked, sounding excited. Mon-El could only frown. Why would she be pleased to see two strangers in her apartment? 

“Hey,” the short-haired man said, giving Kara an awkward smile. Mon-El wondered if this was her mate. She was very happy to see him. 

“I knew it,” she said as she set her bags down to rush over to him. “I knew that was you. I knew it was you in that weird space thing.” 

“Sorry, it took a couple tries to get here,” this Barry said, grimacing until she hugged him. Mon-El tried not to react to that. Kara had lots of male friends. He had no reason to distrust this one. He stepped back from her. “This is my friend, Cisco.” 

“Well, friend is a loose term,” Cisco said as he shook her hand. “We work together.” 

“Hi, Cisco,” Kara said with a welcoming smile. Then she turned back and waved Mon-El over to her side. “I'd like both of you to meet my friend, Mon-El. Mon-El, this is Barry Allen, also known as the Flash, and his friend Cisco.”

“Hello,” Mon-El said, giving her a look. He wasn't sure why she hadn't used his 'earth' name when she introduced them. “This Flash thing—”

“Way to ruin the whole secret identity,” Cisco said. “Do you just assume that all other heroes can be trusted and you can tell them anything?”

“Um, kind of, but then again, I did give you Mon-El's real name, not the one we gave him when we tried to introduce him to earth life,” Kara said, and Mon-El frowned again. “Sorry. For some reason I have a hard time remembering your identity outside of... you. It's not like that with Clark. I'm not sure why. I grew up with him as Kal-El.”

“Not that I don't have a lot of questions, but I think we'll have to hurry things along now,” Cisco said. “I mean, this is a nice universe you got here, and I would like to see a lot more of it, but we did come here to save the world. Well, in part.”

Kara frowned. “What's wrong?”

Barry winced a little. “Do you remember last year when I helped you out and you promised to do the same for me?” 

“What are we up against?”

“Aliens,” Cisco answered. “Well, besides you because you're apparently an alien. Both of you.”

“Which means we could so use your help,” Barry told them. “Because we have an invasion on our hands. A race called the Dominators.”

Kara grabbed Mon-El's arm, not realizing how hard she was squeezing. “You're sure they're the Dominators?”

“You know them?”

“Yeah,” Kara said. “I am definitely coming to help. Let me just drop Mon-El back at the DEO, and we can—”

“Drop me off?” Mon-El shook his head. “What happened to all of your 'you can be a hero' and 'you have abilities' and 'you are better than this?'”

“You almost died not that long ago.”

“I'm completely cured, and I want to go. In case you've forgotten, Daxam had a run in with the Dominators, too. In fact, if it wasn't for us, you Kryptonians—”

“Don't say it.”

“Owe us,” Mon-El finished to spite her, getting a smile from Cisco and a frown from Barry. “I'm going. They need me, and I want to do this.”

Kara smiled at him. “We might make a hero out of you yet.”

* * *

“I'm going to need a minute to get word to J'onn and Alex—oh, and James—to tell them that I'll be out of town for a bit. Oh, and I need to pack, too. I don't need much, but while my costume is pretty durable, I need some clothes for when I'm not in it,” Kara said, starting to pace as she got lost in thought. Mon-El watched her with amusement, not the only one who was.

“I can do the notification while you pack if you want,” Barry offered. “Won't take me more than a minute.”

“I should probably—”

“Sure, man, go ahead. Go say hello to all the other friends you made here,” Cisco said, and Kara frowned. Mon-El wasn't so sure that was a friendly suggestion at all, but Barry seemed to like it, and he took off running, leaving a breeze in his wake.

Kars shrugged. “Okay, then. I guess I'll grab a few things. Bare essentials, nothing extra...”

“So, Mon-El,” Cisco began, looking him over. “There a name and a costume that goes with that? Like she's Supergirl, so you're Superman—”

“Superman is my cousin,” Kara interrupted from the other room, and Mon-El nodded. He wasn't sure that was the name he would have picked even if it hadn't already been taken. Cyborg Superman was an idiot to try and steal that name over others he could have chosen.

Cisco nodded. “Right. Makes sense. Kind of. The name's not Superman, then. What does that make your name, anyway?”

“Mon-El,” Kara said, bringing a bag into the room. Cisco gave her a look full of disbelief. She shrugged. “Well, okay, we also gave him an earth name. Mike Matthews.”

“Still not a superhero name,” Cisco muttered, shaking his head. Mon-El had to agree with him. He didn't consider either of his names that heroic, but then—he wasn't very heroic, either. “Let me think about this. I'm good with names. I've named most of the metahumans we've gone up against, and I come up with good names, trust me. I just need to know what your powers are. Oh, wait, they're like hers, right?”

“Actually, they're... well...” Mon-El knew his abilities didn't compare to Kara's, and that was still a bit awkward, since everyone expected them to, and even if they didn't, it made it seem like Kyrptonians really were superior, since they had more powers than he did as a Daxamite.

“Wait, let me get this straight,” Cisco said. “You two don't have the same powers.”

“Nope,” Kara said, and Mon-El gave her a look. She was too enthusiastic about that, but then it wasn't like he didn't know she enjoyed beating him. He wondered if their relationship was perhaps a little unhealthy, but then again, he didn't know what a healthy one was supposed to be like. “I'm stronger, faster, I have heat vision, and I—”

“Sound like a typical self-important Krypton,” Mon-El told her, and she gave him a look, but Cisco laughed.

“I like you two. I really do,” Cisco said. “We can get an exact read on your powers later. Let me ask the really important question. Again. Costume. Do you have one?”

Mon-El shook his head. The one time he'd really gone out to fight any kind of battle, he'd been a little drunk and wearing normal clothes. He hadn't thought that through. He'd just done it because Alex made him feel guilty and because... well, because of Kara.

“We have to get you a costume,” Cisco said. “Guess we do need to talk about powers again. Can't properly design a suit without knowing what they are.”

“Well, I'm all packed,” Kara said and then rushed back into her room for something else. She added it to her bag. “Why don't I let you two work on that while I go find Barry?”

Mon-El frowned. He got the feeling she was laughing at him again, and he didn't like it. He also couldn't stop it, because Kara was off just as fast as Barry had been. Cisco stared at balcony she'd used to leave, walking out to look for her in the sky.

“Awesome,” Cisco said, still staring up at the clouds. “Hey, Mon-El. About those powers...”

“Super strength counts, right?” Mon-El asked, and Cisco grinned, clapping his hands together. “Can we do something about... um... bullets?”

“Bullets?”

Mon-El nodded. “According to Cadmus—they're not wrong, I know because it hurt and felt like I was dying—I have a bad allergy to lead. And lead is in a lot of bullets...”

“I got you,” Cisco said, nodding. “Not to worry. We can totally work with that. Let's talk colors. Right now you're kind of understated, got a lowkey vibe going on which is totally okay, but your girl is all bold red and blue—”

“Kara's not my girl,” Mon-El said. “She'd... probably hurt you if you said that to her, too.”

“Point very much taken,” Cisco told him. “Still... colors. Somehow I could see you rocking the blue and red—or maybe a green...”

* * *

“Barry?”

He turned, and Kara almost winced. He looked so troubled, with the weight of the world on his shoulders. She knew that the Dominators coming to his home was bad, and his world was in danger, so it wasn't like the words weren't fitting. Still, she hated seeing a friend so upset.

“Hi, Kara. I'd ask how you found me, but then I remembered you had super hearing,” Barry said. “I went to CatCo, but no one was there that I recognized, and I wasn't sure where else to go, so I haven't actually told anyone you're leaving yet.”

“That... wasn't really why I came over to talk to you,” she said, shrugging. “I couldn't help noticing a bit of tension between you and your friend Cisco. Is... something going on there?”

“Yeah, and it's kind of a long story,” Barry admitted. “I'm not sure I can get into all of it now, not when we need to hurry back to the others. It's... Let's just say I really screwed up, and it ended up hurting him badly, so... he's mad at me, and I kind of deserve it.”

Kara wasn't so sure about that, but without more detail, she couldn't argue with him. She put a hand on his arm. “Well, if you need someone to talk to, I'm here.”

“Yes, you are,” he agreed. He smiled. “I am so glad we were able to find you again and get your help with this. I kind of feel like... we're in way over our head.”

“Well, you are,” Kara said, though she didn't mean that in a mean way. “Only in that you've never dealt with an alien invasion before, you don't have the same level of technology, and you also don't know much of anything about the Dominators. That doesn't mean that you can't succeed. It just means... you need a little help.”

“And I suppose we came to the right person?” Barry asked, and she nodded. “Or should I say persons? By the way—about Mon-El... How exactly did that happen? I remember meeting your friends James and Wynn, but I do not remember any Mon-El, and the name alone would make him pretty memorable.”

“Yeah,” Kara agreed, though for her, Mon-El's name was perfectly normal and very much like what she'd known for the first part of her life on Krypton. It was only after she came to earth that she learned other names and they started to become more of the norm than what she'd known before. “Mon-El landed a couple months ago. He's the only survivor of Daxam, which was Krypton's sister planet. I've been trying to help him adjust to life on earth, but I'm not very good at it.”

“And the tension between the two of you...?”

Kara frowned. “There's no tension. Why would you say there's tension?”

Barry laughed. “Kara, there was definitely some tension there. I'm just not sure what kind it is. He seemed wary, but it was more than that, wasn't it? He's not... having issues because he's the only survivor of his world but you're not of yours? Is that ridiculous? Maybe I'm putting too much of the issues that Cisco and I have on this situation.”

“It's not about that, though... Daxam and Krypton have a long standing rivalry that hasn't entirely faded despite the fact that both worlds are gone. Our philosophies are... very different. That has caused some problems, but we're fine.”

“That's good,” Barry said. Then he grinned. “Race you back to your apartment?”

“You're on,” Kara said, taking off to the air as he went on the ground. She rushed through the skies, loving the feel of being in the sky. She almost through in a spin, but that would slow her down. Then again, it didn't really matter who won. This was just about getting Barry's spirits back up before they returned to his world and fought off an invasion.

She landed on the balcony at the same time as Barry reached it, having scaled the building. Nice. She still found that amazing. “Another tie, I think.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Barry said, smiling. “I was here a whole half-a-second faster than you were.”

She rolled her eyes. “You keep telling _yourself_ that.”

Barry laughed. He took a step toward the inside of the apartment, watching Mon-El and Cisco. “Looks like those two are getting along well.”

“They were discussing superhero names and costumes when I left,” Kara said, smiling.

“Two of Cisco's favorite things,” Barry said. “That probably made his year, actually. Thank you. Not just for helping, but for bringing him with you. It's good to see Cisco smiling again.”

“You're welcome.”

* * *

“That was so cool,” Kara said, and Mon-El gave her a look. What was her with thinking everything new was somehow incredible? That had been weird. And unsettling. He wasn't sure he ever wanted to do that again, even if that was probably their only way back to their earth.

He frowned. Was it possible that Daxam still existed in this universe?

“Guys,” Barry said, almost bouncing as he started toward the unhappy people standing on the other side of the room. He didn't seem to notice their expressions, even though he couldn't stop smiling at the whole group. “Thanks for coming.”

“Barry,” the man in the leather jacket began, frowning at all of them. “I thought you were bringing an alien.” 

“I did,” Barry said. “Actually, we brought _two_ of them.” 

“Two?”

“Why not?” Barry asked, grinning. He looked from Kara to Mon-El. “Two aliens are better than one, right?”

“Why not three?” A man asked, scoffing as he said it.

“Well, we had to leave the Martian Manhunter to protect our earth,” Mon-El said, enjoying the look he got for that one, at least until Kara hit him.

“Mon-El,” she said. “J'onn is not a manhunter. That's just a stupid name people gave him because they didn't understand him. He's really a kind, wonderful man who—”

“Barry,” the leather guy interrupted again, “the idea was to get someone who could help, not more... drama.”

“Theater on this planet must be very bizarre,” Mon-El said, and Kara nodded in agreement.

“Everyone, this is my friend Kara Danvers,” Barry said, trying to control the situation, which he was very bad at, Mon-El couldn't help thinking. “Or, as she's known on her world, Supergirl.”

“What makes her so super?”

Barry looked at her. “Well?”

Kara grinned, rising up into the air and carving the symbol for the house of Zor-El into the ground in front of them. _Show off,_ Mon-El mouthed to her, and she just smiled back at him, enjoying herself.

“I'm convinced.”

“Best. Team up. Ever,” the blond in the glasses said, and Mon-El wondered if hers were real or she used them to conceal, like Kara did.

“What about you?” the gruff man in the dirty jacket said, pointing a gun toward Mon-El. He tried not to panic. He did not want to get shot again. “Where's your parlor trick?”

“Oh, I'm just here to look pretty,” Mon-El told him, getting a groan from Kara, a few shocked looks, some angry ones, and then a few appraising ones.

“You do it very well,” the small brunette woman said, causing the man in leather to frown at her. She shrugged. “What, Ollie? It's not like I'm a kid, and few people here would deny that he's hot.”

“Thea—”

“Mon-El is kidding,” Kara said, coming over to him. She put a warning hand on his shoulder. “Actually, as a Daxamite, Mon-El is a bit of an expert on the Dominators. He's even named after a great leader of his people who repelled the Dominator invasion of Daxam—”

“And forced them out of Krypton in the process,” Mon-El reminded her, making her grimace. He grinned. “They like to forget that part, Kryptonians do. Far be it for any of them to be indebted to a Daxamite.”

Kara sighed. “Must you—”

“Yes.”

“All right, so Mon-El, is it? What exactly can you tell us about the Dominators?”

Mon-El winced. He had never expected that particular oral history to be remotely useful. “Well... Do you want the good news or the bad news? Good news, of course, being that... those they don't kill they experiment on.”

“What?” Someone asked, not one he knew the name of. “Wait, we were supposed to get a choice if we wanted good or bad news.”

“Yeah, I think I'm afraid to ask what the bad news is.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The teams get information about the Dominators.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... a few things...
> 
> First, I really want to make the Dominators a credible threat that requires everyone's assistance to defeat. And I borrowed some information from the wiki article on Lar Grand/Mon-El to do it.
> 
> Second, as much as I still think Barry makes the heart of almost any team, I don't think he was clear-headed enough to lead in this crisis. I loved Oliver throwing him the support, but I think in this instance Oliver needed to be in charge.
> 
> Third, while I loved Iris' line about Oliver being hotter as the Green Arrow, I didn't see how she added anything to the meeting and... well, let's just pretend she's off running media interference for them while they work on fighting the aliens.
> 
> Onward, then.

* * *

“Do we have anything around here to... drink?” Mon-El asked, and Kara gave him a look. He shook his head. “You have no idea how long Daxamite oral histories can be, do you? I'm going to need a drink. Or ten. They're better with alcohol, I promise.”

“You brought a frat boy as our alien expert?” the man wearing leather asked. Kara grimaced. That was unfortunately an almost accurate assessment of Mon-El in some ways. He was only concerned with himself and having a good time.

Except she knew it wasn't always true.

“I'd take offense to that if I knew what a frat boy was,” Mon-El said. He looked at Kara, and she nodded. It was an insult, sort of. “Okay, then, well, the Kryptonians love to call us hedonists, but the thing about Daxam is that we know how to have a good time.”

“Sounds like my kind of place,” the woman next to the man said, and Kara grimaced. They needed names for everyone.

“Let's get back to the Dominators—”

“Um, first, can we do the introductions?” Kara asked. “You know who I am, but I know Barry, Cisco, and Mon-El. That's it, and it's a little confusing when people have questions and are interrupting. So... can we go through everyone and put names to faces?”

“Sure,” Barry said, getting a look from some of his friends. “First of all, we have Oliver Queen, also known as Green Arrow. Next we have John Diggle or Dig or—”

“Spartan,” Dig said. “You should probably get used to calling me Spartan in the field.”

“Okay,” Kara agreed, filing those names away for herself.

“Thea Queen, Oliver's sister, also known as Speedy,” Barry went on. Kara made a note to keep her and Mon-El separate. Otherwise this could be a disaster. “Over here is Sara Lance—”

“White Canary,” Sara said, and Kara nodded, thinking the harder part would be keeping all of the codenames straight.

“Jefferson—sorry, Jax—Jackson,” Barry said. “Together with Professor Stein he is Firestorm. Ray Palmer, the Atom. Mick Rory, Heatwave.”

Kara nodded to both of them, not sure she liked the look she got from Heatwave. Barry turned back to the group at the other end of the room.

“Harrison Wells from Earth-19, better known as HR,” Barry said. “Felicity Smoak—”

“Overwatch,” she said, smiling. “I'm really, really good tech support.”

“Hey, so am I,” Cisco said. “Oh, and I am Vibe outside of my normal awesomeness.”

Barry smiled at him, but he didn't get a smile back. After that bit of awkwardness, he cleared his throat and gestured to the last person in the room. “And rounding it off, Caitlin Snow.”

The woman at the desk forced a smile. “I guess you can call me Killer Frost.”

“Hey,” Barry protested immediately. “Just because you have frost powers does not make you a killer. That isn't who you are. You were able to stop yourself, and you still care. You are so much more than the ability to deep freeze, and we are still here for you, remember?”

She nodded, eyes welling a little, and Felicity turned to her, giving her a big hug.

“Well, now that that's over, let's get back to the Dominators,” Oliver said, and Kara thought he seemed to have a natural air of command. The unspoken leader. Interesting. She supposed she'd thought that was Barry, but then that was bias from her end, having really only met him before now.

“I still say this would be better with alcohol,” Mon-El said, and Kara shook her head at him as he grinned back at her. “Or at least chairs. You... do have chairs on this planet, right? Oh, yeah, there's two. Only two? What kind of bad planning is that?”

“Man's got a point,” Heatwave said. “I could use a drink.”

“Next you'll want a damned campfire,” Oliver muttered.

“I could go for that. What? S'mores sound good right now.”

Kara was not the only one who groaned.

* * *

“There should be popcorn for this, am I right?” HR asked, and Caitlin sighed. She didn't want to see this, as it didn't really say much for their chances of fighting off an alien invasion. What had started as a bit of a joke over a campfire had quickly escalated into an argument over who was in charge that might likely end in violence.

She didn't want to get involved, though Felicity had tried, as did Supergirl. She could probably end the argument quickly enough if she turned those eyes against them, but Caitlin didn't want that happening. No one did.

Her eyes fell on the other alien. He wasn't involved. He wasn't enjoying himself at the other's expense and treating it like entertainment, either. He looked uneasy, but she wasn't sure that had anything to do with the fight.

Caitlin rose, going over to his side. “You're not comfortable with speaking in front of large groups, are you?”

He gave her a sideways look. “What makes you say that?”

“The way you keep deflecting,” she told him with a slight smile. “That, and I'm familiar with that particular fear. When I was trying to get my doctorate... Well, that almost didn't happen.”

He nodded. “I'm not sure what a doctorate is, but I'm sure that was terrifying.”

“What is it you're afraid to tell us?” Caitlin asked, keeping her voice gentle.

“I shouldn't have come,” he said, shaking his head. “I'm not an expert on the Dominators, and our oral histories and legends have probably distorted themselves over the centuries. And me, playing the hero? That's a laugh, too. I'm just a giant fraud.”

“You and HR should talk,” Caitlin told him. “Still, even your exaggerated legends have some basis in fact, and we need everything we can get on these aliens before we go up against them. What little Diggle's wife was able to give us doesn't tell us enough. We have some footage of them just... wiping out our soldiers. We need... something to give us hope.”

“That would be Kara's job,” Mon-El said. “She inspires people. Sometimes against their will.”

“I know someone like that.”

“Barry?”

She nodded. He'd gotten her back to herself even if she was still terrified that she'd lose everything if she took Cisco's dampeners off again. “I hate to say it, because it will sound disloyal, but maybe we should let Oliver lead.”

“He seems good at it,” Mon-El said. “Reminds me of the Daxam's last king.”

“Good leader?”

“Some said so,” Mon-El answered. He took a breath and let it out. “They didn't say the same about the last prince.”

Caitlin frowned, wondering what that meant. She touched his arm, and he looked down at her hand. “Go on. I think they're almost finished and ready for you.”

He shook his head. “I don't really want to tell them the truth. Not even the one about me. The Dominators—that's what little kids on my planet have nightmares about. Few things scare Daxamites, but these aliens... they're one of them.”

“That is what we need to know,” Caitlin insisted. “We can't go in there blind. Every time Barry does, he comes out hurt or... or he messes up a timeline.”

Mon-El frowned. “A timeline? As in... time travel? You can do that?”

“Not without some severe consequences,” she said, watching his face. “Why do you ask?”

“Just... I lost my entire planet. Of all the people to survive Daxam's destruction, it was me. That's just... wrong.”

“Then make it right,” Caitlin said, giving him a smile of encouragement. “I'm not saying change the world—change yourself. Make yourself someone better. Believe me, if I could do it for myself, I would.”

He frowned again. “The ice powers—you're afraid of them—”

“Now is not really the time for this,” she said just as Oliver called Mon-El's name. “See?”

“No, I know, but I think that maybe—”

“Mon-El,” Supergirl called. “Get over here before I drag you over here.”

“We'll talk later,” Caitlin told him, and he forced a nod before jogging off to join the others.

* * *

“Nice of you to join us,” Oliver said, and Mon-El forced a smile. He'd actually been on the verge of doing something good back there, and he wasn't all that glad that he'd been interrupted. He had to ask Kara later if she thought her adoptive mother would work in the same kind of biochemistry on this earth—or if she even existed. If she did, she might hold out hope for Caitlin that she didn't have right now.

That was a good thing, wasn't it? Mon-El thought so, but he really wasn't sure. Daxamite morality was not the same as that of Earth, and definitely not that of Krypton.

“Now that we've settled who's leading, let's discuss our enemy,” Oliver said. “What do we know about the Dominators?”

“That they're really strong and withstand conventional weapons, at least in this footage we have,” Cisco said, pulling up an image on to the screen behind where Caitlin had been sitting. The others watched quietly as the aliens fought the soldiers, withstanding their bullets in a way that Mon-El envied. If just one of them hit him, he was done.

“I heard stories about them when I was young,” Kara said, her eyes troubled as she watched the screen. “They came to Krypton before I was born. Killed a lot of people. Experimented on even more.”

Mon-El reached out to her, not the only one to do so. Barry seemed to want to help her, but she didn't even see it, her eyes still on the screen, likely reliving the same stories he was. She turned to him. “Do you remember how we stopped them?”

“Well, it wasn't Medusa,” Mon-El said, shaking his head. “The oral tradition goes... basically like this—and I'm condensing a lot—we could spend hours retelling this tale—”

“Think Lord of the Rings and that meeting in Rivendell,” Kara said, trying to be helpful, though whatever reference she just made was lost on Mon-El. “I'll show you that later, when we're home. Alex really likes scifi and fantasy in addition to horror, so she'd get a kick out of showing you and—sorry, do you have Lord of the Rings here?”

“Yes, we do, and it is awesome,” Cisco said. “Though I agree—let's skip the songs and dance just like Jackson did in the movies.”

“They skipped that in your films?” Kara asked. “I think I'm jealous.”

“People,” Oliver snapped. “Focus.”

“Sorry,” Kara said, sounding sheepish. “It's just... every time we hear something about the way things are different on your planet and my planet—it's fascinating. It's hard not to get swept up in that, even with a huge threat looming over you.”

“That's because you like to think about the good,” Mon-El told her, and she frowned. “Look, the Dominators... They didn't get that name because they were strong. Yeah, they are, and they slaughtered Daxamite soldiers by the thousands when they invaded. They had a foothold on Krypton, they figured they were ready to start in on us. And they did. They wiped out one of the royal houses, killed a bloodline or two dozen, and then leadership fell on Valor.”

“Valor?”

“Also known as Mon-El,” he explained, uncomfortable with that connection. “His house was one of the lesser nobility until the Dominators came, but with the collapse of the government, he took up the mantle of Valor, and he led the world's remaining troops into battle. We fought off the Dominators, forcing them out of the system. It was a long, bloody war...”

He shuddered, his mind pulling up the mural of Valor's advance that lined the great hall in the palace on Daxam. That thing had terrified him as a child with all the blood. His father's tendency to give his best lectures there didn't help.

“Mon-El?” Kara asked, concern in her voice. She touched his arm, and he shook off the memory. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Um... so then after Daxam had succeeded in forcing the Dominators off of the planet, Valor took his armies to Krypton.”

“We had already managed to fight off many of the Dominator armies while they were divided and trying to conquer Daxam,” Kara said. “We didn't need his help.”

“Sure you didn't,” Mon-El said. “It looked like there might actually be an end to the long-standing Daxam-Krypton rivalry there for a bit—” 

“But then Valor made the controversial decision to settle several planets and moons with the Daxamites that had been experimented on,” Kara said, grimacing with distaste. 

“He was creating a buffer zone to keep the Dominators off of Daxam forever.”

“He exiled his own people, treated citizens that were changed and mutilated as... canon fodder,” Kara said. “They were put there to slow the Dominators down before they reached Daxam, that's it. You know your people would never have gone to their rescue.”

“You don't know that,” Mon-El said, pulling away from her. “You can't say what we would have done or not done. The sun exploded and Krypton killed my planet, so where do you get off being all self-righteous anyway?”

She winced, and Mon-El regretted saying it. Not only was it inaccurate—she'd said it was solar flares, not Krypton itself—but he hated that look on her face. He was lucky she was nice and not about to hit him because he would go across the room, and it would hurt.

“Okay,” Cisco said. “I think we could all use a little bit of a break after that. Let's all just... five minutes, clear the air, clear our heads, regroup, refocus... That's okay with you, right, Oliver?”

“Five minutes,” Oliver agreed. “No more.”

* * *

“So... that got a little intense back there,” Barry said, and Kara grimaced. “I thought it was almost as bad as me and Cisco of late. Maybe even a little worse.”

She sighed, and Barry almost regretted his words, but he had to know what was going on with the two of them. They all did. Kara and Mon-El were their experts on the Dominators, and not only that, Kara was going to be their strongest, best fighter. If they won against the Dominators, it would because they had the help of someone like her. He was fast, but fast wasn't enough, not against these aliens. That was why he'd gone to Oliver for help, why they'd called the Legends, but even that hadn't felt like it would be enough to save the world.

“Kara?”

“It's... Well, you heard about the long standing rivalry between Krypton and Daxam, right? Our peoples have never been the... friendliest. It was never civil war, but there is a lot of old prejudice there. So much so that when he first came to my earth, I accused him of trying to kill the president,” Kara said, looking down at her feet. “The alien doing it had fire powers, but I still assume it had to be the Daxamite.”

“You have that heat vision.”

“I do, but that wasn't the same kind of heat that was used in the attack, and if I'd thought about it, I would have known that,” Kara told him. “I just knew it was him, so I tracked him down, beat him up, and was prepared to lock him away for life.”

Barry grimaced. “I know a thing or two about that, too.”

“Mon-El hadn't tried to kill the president. He escaped because he thought he was being imprisoned at the DEO, not cared for, and he was trying to get a message to Daxam. He didn't know it was destroyed,” she said. “I just... I've had to rethink a lot of what I knew about Daxam and about myself since I've met him. We've... we fight a lot, and not just in the physical sense, though we do train together, too. He's... He pushes every button I have at times, but he can be sweet and thoughtful and even heroic, too.”

Barry nodded. “That sounds like someone I know, too.”

“I'm not really sure what that thing back there was, though,” Kara said. She shook her head. “Though Cisco was right. We all needed air. I think we can get back in there and finish up what we know about the Dominators.”

“Are you sure?” Barry asked, giving her a concerned look. “I just... something's bothering you, and I want to help, but if you won't tell me what it is—”

“It's just this invasion... It's bringing up memories that are... well, still very fresh,” Kara admitted. She let out a breath. “I think the Dominators may have inspired my father to make a virus that kills everything that doesn't have Kryptonian DNA. That same virus was used to murder aliens—it almost killed Mon-El. I hear the stories, I think of the fear, and then I think if we were to take it to where my father did—”

“No,” Barry said. “Even if we had access to that virus, no. We wouldn't use it against the Dominators. That's not who we are.”

“That's funny,” Kara said. “That's what I always thought about my parents.”

Barry put a hand on her arm, looking into her eyes. “My parents never created a virus that would destroy entire races, but I... I went back and altered time, creating the perfect world for myself. I was happy. I had both my parents back. Alive. Together. I had everything I ever wanted. Then I had to change it back, but even after I did... I cost others their lives. I... Cisco's brother is dead, Diggle has a son instead of a daughter, and Caitlin... she has frost powers, and they almost destroyed her. I ruined so many lives thinking I was doing the right thing...”

Kara hugged him. “We're going to find a way to make this better, Barry. All of it. First we stop the Dominators, and then we'll see if we can find some way to help repair the timeline. Or at least get you and Cisco back as friends.”

“Thanks, Kara,” Barry told her, stepping out of her embrace. “I think our five minutes is up, judging from that glare Oliver's throwing our way.”

“Is he always that... mean?”

“It's part of his charm, actually,” Barry said, and Kara shook her head as she walked with him to rejoin the others.

“Good, you're back,” Oliver said as they reached the group. “I was thinking that we should use Kara as a stand-in for training.”

Kara nodded. She could see that as a good start. It would give her an idea what the others were capable of, and though Mon-El might be closer to what the Dominators were like in battle. “We can—”

“Wait,” Mon-El said. “We haven't finished talking about the Dominators and what they can do. It's fine to train against Kara—I'm looking forward to not being the only one getting his ass kicked—but we're not done yet.”

“We aren't?” Thea asked with a frown. “You told us what your people did after kicking them off your world. What are we missing?”

“Mon-El, that's a myth,” Kara began, shaking her head. “We don't know that there's any truth to it at all.”

“Don't we?” he countered. “What if that is the reason your parents created Medusa?”

Kara flinched. “Mon-El...”

“What exactly are we talking about here?” Oliver demanded, arms folded over his chest. “I don't care if it's a myth. Tell us. Now.”

Kara bit her lip, not wanting to say it. 

Mon-El did it for her. “The Dominators got their name because they could control minds.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the information on the Dominators out, plans are made to try and counter them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was hard to find a good place to end this chapter. I wanted to include at least part of them training, even though I write action very poorly, and I was afraid it would turn too silly in parts, and then I hit the wall where Flashpoint starts taking over everything in the crossover, and while I know it has an impact on everyone, I think it took away from the reason why they were together. The Dominators hardly felt like a threat when Flashpoint took over everything instead. That was something I wanted to balance out a little, if at all possible, as well as work on Mon-El seeing other sides of the hero work and get opinions besides Kara's about it.
> 
> Still, this chapter may veer a little more toward the silly aspect, but I hope it's not too much or over the top as that was not my intention. I was reminded of other crossover episodes in at least part of it.

* * *

“Wait a minute,” Thea said, and Cisco couldn't help thinking that she was even prettier when she was angry. “These things can control minds? And we're just hearing about this _now?_ Don't you think it's something that should have been mentioned a long time ago?”

Kara grimaced. “As I said, it's a part of legend. A myth. We don't actually know that they were capable of mind control, though that is said to be why they're the Dominators. They dominate your minds. For a Kryptonian, that is one of the scariest things you can have happen. Hence the nightmares.”

“There's even a little rhyme that goes with it,” Mon-El said. “I'm not repeating it, though. I hate that thing, and when it gets stuck in my head—never mind. There it is. Damn it.”

Kara grinned, and he gave her a look. She just kept smiling. “Oh, come on. It's not that bad.”

He leaned over and whispered to her, and she cringed, putting her hands to her ears like that was going to block it out even after he'd quit speaking. “Okay, okay, it is that bad. Stop. Oh, Rao, make it stop...”

“Love these two,” Cisco said, amused by them even if he shouldn't be and Oliver really wasn't. Aliens that were friendly? Awesome. “Seriously. Though... back to the mind control. Do we know if that is some kind of technology or their physiology? It's possible we can design some kind of counter to it if we know. Like if it has a frequency or a—”

“Myth,” Kara insisted. “Even with that obnoxious rhyme—I'm really going to hurt you the next time we train, Mon-El—we don't have an answer for that. Records from that time period just... don't exist. Some say the Dominators did it, kept us from documenting anything that could be used against them. Others say it was us. That we were... afraid to remember just how terrible it was.”

“What about on Daxam?”

“The palace has—had—a rather... detailed mural of Valor's advance against the Dominators,” Mon-El answered. “That's it besides the legends and the rhymes. We didn't seek to forget it, not with all those long, long tales of death and that damned picture, but no recordings, not like that one you just showed us. The Dominators probably saw to the destruction of anything like that, but we don't know.”

“And while we could go back in time to find out, there's no telling if Krypton or Daxam exists in this universe,” Sara said, frowning.

“Doesn't mean we can't go back in time, though,” Ray said. “We can do it here, on earth, when they first came. They won't be expecting it at all.”

“No one is going anywhere until we have an effective strategy to fight these aliens,” Oliver said. “That means that those of us who are not part of the brain trust will work on what we do best—fighting—while those of us who _do_ belong to that other group start making up counters for possible mind control.”

“This is seriously cool,” Cisco said, not at all bothered by being left out of training. He'd much rather save the day with a new gadget. He loved making new toys, and this one sounded more awesome than ever. “We get to build anti-mind control technology.”

“I think Curtis would so want in on this,” Felicity said, sounding a bit rueful. “I left him to do my job while the recruits take care of Star City.”

Oliver didn't seem happy about that, and Cisco couldn't help the question that came next. “You sure they can?”

“Rory could probably handle it on his own, but he's not alone, which I hope is a good thing,” Felicity answered.

“Question,” Ray began. “What about Professor Stein and myself? Technically we're brain trust but we're also a part of the fighting force, or at least I hope we are.”

“Mind control first, training later,” Oliver said. “Won't do any good to train you to fight aliens if they turn you against us.”

“Good point,” Ray agreed, coming over to join Cisco and Felicity.

* * *

“I'm surprised you're not in the middle of that,” HR observed, sipping from his coffee cup. “Shouldn't they be training with both aliens to combat the invasion?”

Mon-El glanced toward the fighters. He was reminded of the ones he used to watch, the ones he'd used to help Kara with once, when she was up against a champion in the ring on her earth. “I train against her all the time. I don't need to do it now.”

HR smiled, taking another sip. “Still, she is outnumbered by several trained and enhanced combatants. Shouldn't she have a bit of help?”

Mon-El snorted. “She can handle all of them on her own. They don't actually need me.”

“Ah.”

“I hear you're the man to speak to about being a fraud,” Mon-El said, and HR spit his coffee out as he did. He winced, setting down his cup and reaching for a napkin to start wiping himself off.

“I see, and who told you that? Mr. Ramon, I presume? He does seem very suspicious of me,” HR said, finishing his clean up and disposing of the napkin. “I suppose it does make sense in some ways, though I find it very... annoying.”

“Actually it was Caitlin.”

“Really?” HR frowned, shaking his head. “It's always the quiet ones.”

That made Mon-El frown, not sure what HR meant by that. He thought it might have had something to do with Kara in a way since people thought she was quiet and yet she was Supergirl, and he had a hard time believing she'd ever been a mousy little assistant type like she'd wanted him to be.

“So what makes you ask me about fraud?”

“Um... Well,” Mon-El glanced toward the others. “You know how you assumed I'd be over there, that I'd be fighting?”

“Yes.”

“I'm not a hero. Not by any means. I have some... powers because I'm not from this planet, but I'm not actually that good at using them. I won a fight against Kara because I surprised her, not because I was any good, and every other one I've gotten into, I've lost,” Mon-El admitted. “I don't even want to be a hero. I'm not brave. I'm not selfless. I'm not like Kara at all.”

“Well, to begin with, I think you have a flawed argument as to what constitutes a hero. Not all heroes want to go out and save the world. They may not even want to save more than one person, but when they do, when they stand up and stop something that they know is wrong, when they save that one life or that one thing—that's still a hero, despite what others think,” HR told him. “If you stood up, you went to the fight—well, that makes you a hero. It's also very likely what she sees in you—that even though you don't want to, you will do what needs to be done.”

Mon-El frowned again. “How do you know that's what she sees in me? I'm pretty sure all she sees is this irresponsible, selfish Daxamite and—”

“You wouldn't be here if she didn't see something of value in you, and if the others didn't see the same,” HR said. “You know that Cisco can do this thing—he calls it a vibe—and he can see into other worlds and places and times. If they were that concerned about your ability to help, he would have done that to prove that you couldn't be trusted.”

Mon-El tensed. “He can see into the past? Even in other universes?”

“Yes.”

That was not good. He had better make sure that Cisco never had a reason to look. Ever. “Right. So... Why exactly are you a fraud?”

HR sighed. “They knew multiple versions of me—Harrison Wells—as a genius. Scientific mastermind capable of breakthroughs the world has never seen before. He created the particle accelerator that gave Barry his powers. Same with Cisco, Firestorm, and I actually assume Caitlin's came from that as well, though they were much slower to develop and have been blamed on Flashpoint.”

“Flashpoint?”

“Not important at the moment,” HR said. “The point is that I am not a genius of the scientific variety. No, what I am is a _marketing_ genius. I can sell just about anything. I'm the face of the company. Or I was.”

Mon-El nodded, though he was still confused. “So... you don't actually do anything?”

“I'm an idea man,” HR said. “I may not build the technology, but I can dream it up. I just rely on others to make practical application of it. I have value, though it's not as readily apparent as... well, your friend over there.”

Mon-El watched Kara flatten the man with the arrows and smiled. “No one is quite like Kara, not even her cousin.”

“I'm sure,” HR agreed. He nudged Mon-El with his coffee cup. “I think you're underestimating your value, by the way. There is something to be said for the kind of information you brought to this meeting. Without it, they would be going in blind, with nothing more than brute force to guide them. What would they find when they went up against these aliens? What if they managed to control the mind of your friend over there?”

Mon-El grimaced. “I think we'd all end up dead.”

“Exactly my point. Everyone's value comes in a different way. It has nothing to do with being a fraud or a hero,” HR said. “It's all about what you bring to the table, and trust me—you've already brought plenty.”

* * *

“Are you sure we should be pushing this hard?” Kara asked, leaning down to offer Oliver a hand. The others weren't hardly moving, and she hated herself for causing them pain, even if it was in the name of doing good. She knew they had to fight hard against the Dominators, but she wasn't sure there would be anyone left to do that if they weren't more careful.

“They have to learn,” Oliver told her, and she nodded, though she was still worried. “This is what they're up against. An army of stronger opponents who will show no mercy. We can't fight this war with kid gloves and expect to win. We have to be willing to get our hands dirty and do whatever it takes.”

She nodded. That sounded like something that J'onn might have said, back when he was pretending to be Hank Henshaw. He'd used similar reasons for keeping Kryptonite around, and he hadn't been completely wrong about that, even if Clark disagreed with him.

“Maybe we should have started with them fighting Mon-El,” she said, grimacing. “I mean, he's not trained, he really isn't, but he's also not as... He'd be more of an introduction to fighting aliens. He's still strong, and he can be fast. He can jump, too.”

Oliver shrugged. “Watering down the fight won't save anyone.”

Kara frowned. “Are you always so... harsh?”

“I started this fight on my own, armed with nothing more than a book of names and a bow. I've come a long way since then, but if I wasn't harsh, if I wasn't willing to do whatever it took to stay alive, I wouldn't be here today,” Oliver said. “That said, everyone take five.”

She watched the others limp away, still feeling guilty.

Oliver put a hand on her arm. “You didn't kill anyone, and they will heal. Bruises and even broken bones can mend. Dead people—well, most of them don't come back, and if they do, you don't want them to. Or they don't want to. Don't believe me, ask Thea or Sara. Both of them had a lot to deal with after their... resurrections.”

“Um...” Kara forced herself to nod, not sure she could bring herself to ask about that.

“Since you suggested it, though,” Oliver began, and she frowned just before he yelled, “Mon-El, over here. Now.”

Kara winced. “You know this isn't really—”

“Relax,” Oliver told her. “We're just going to get a sense of what he can do. We've seen you, we need to see him. Can't make a battle plan without knowing what people are capable of, and best way of testing his abilities is to measure them against yours.”

“I suppose you're right,” Kara agreed. She'd rather Mon-El have more time to rest and recover, since he had almost died not that long before they came here, and she wasn't sure he was up to training with her whatever he might claim.

“Mon-El,” Oliver said as he got close to them. “Need to see what you can do. Since the rest of us are taking a bit of a rest, it's your turn. Fight Kara, show us what you've got.”

Mon-El looked at her. “Did you run out of humans to break?”

“Very funny,” she muttered. “I didn't break anyone.”

“Just mangled them a little?”

She rolled her eyes, shaking her head at him. “Come on. Oliver wants to see what you can do, so let's go ahead and—”

“What about what I can do?” Another man asked, walking up to them. Kara frowned. She didn't know this kid, and she wasn't sure Oliver did, either. “I'm Kid Flash. Name's a little corny, but trust me, I've got speed. And I'll prove it.”

Oliver shook his head. “Barry said you just got your powers and haven't—”

“They've been testing me and testing me, and I'm fine. I'm great. My test results are good. I can do this. I'm ready for this. I was _born_ ready.”

“Listen, Wally—”

“You're not ready for this,” Mon-El said. “Trust me on that. You don't want to fight her without more training. A lot more.”

“I'm fast. I think I can handle it.”

Kara hadn't actually tested herself against Barry yet since he'd been pulled to the side by Stein and Jax, but she really didn't want to hurt someone who was just starting out. The others had training already, but if he just got powers—that was not a good idea, even if Oliver didn't want her holding back.

“Kara and Mon-El here were about to give us a little demonstration,” Oliver said instead. “Why don't you see what you think after that's over?”

Wally gave him a look, but Oliver fixed him with a hard stare. “Okay, okay. I'll watch, and then I'll take a turn. No worries.”

Kara looked at Mon-El, and he shook his head. “What is with the world full of crazies wanting to be heroes?”

“They're not crazy,” Kara said. “They know they can do good, and they want to. Though, just for that...”

“What?”

“This,” Kara said, hitting him and knocking him across the floor.

* * *

“This time I have popcorn,” HR announced, and Thea grabbed a bowl from him, trying not to wince as she did. She hadn't thought that she could forget how much it hurt to lose a fight, but she had. She was badly out of practice, and it showed. Supergirl had kicked all of their asses, but she felt like she'd done the worst of all of them.

Thea was done with the hero gig full time, though. She didn't need this. She didn't want this. She'd fallen into the trap because aliens, but she wasn't going back to this afterward. She had a good life as Oliver's chief of staff, and she did good there without a mask and a bow.

“This is going to be good,” Felicity said, coming up next to her. “I mean, admittedly, I wasn't sure he was going to get back up after that first hit, but he did.”

“Yup,” Thea agreed, “and he's fast, too, faster than I would have thought after a punch like that. I'd still be on the ground.”

She put a handful of popcorn in her mouth, almost choking on it when Mon-El managed to land a punch on Supergirl that had her sprawling across the floor and into a cart, smashing it to pieces.

“He's strong.”

“Oh, yeah,” Felicity agreed, reaching into the bowl for a handful of popcorn.

“I think she may have let him hit her,” Caitlin said, frowning. “With the kind of speed she's capable of, she should have been able to dodge that one.”

“He's not that much slower than she is,” Cisco disagreed. “The readings show his speed just a few percentages shy of hers, which is not shabby at all and—damn, boy can jump.”

“He's not flying,” HR said. “Wonder if that means he can't.”

“Who says he needs to fly?” Thea asked, taking another handful of popcorn and watching Mon-El jump from one rafter to another as Supergirl flew after him. “Though... she could do something about his shirt. You know, for the sake of the viewing audience.”

“Agreed,” Felicity said, then she winced as Supergirl managed to catch Mon-El, sending them both down to the pavement and breaking it in the process.

“Does that mean it's over?” HR asked. “That wasn't much of a show.”

“Um, well, we don't have monitoring equipment directly on either of them,” Caitlin began, “but it doesn't seem like—wow. They're both conscious after that. This is—I want readings. We need to stop them and get some of our—”

“Duck,” Cisco said, pushing her out of the way, and Thea grabbed Felicity at the same time, yanking them out of the path of the aliens. “This is so awesome.”

“I'm not even sure they need us to fight the invasion,” Thea muttered as she picked herself back up. “Let's just let those two do it. What good is my bow against that?”

“Trick arrows,” Felicity reminded her. “If we can find a weakness for the Dominators, we can make arrows for you and Oliver to exploit that. Maybe even tip Dig's bullets with them. We just need to know the right material.”

“Exactly,” Cisco said. “Though... how are we going to find out what these aliens are weak to?”

“Recon,” Thea said. “Some of us are going to have to find them and get close enough to get some more intel on them. Hopefully without being mindcontrolled, which is what you people are supposed to be working on.”

“Um...” Felicity said, pointing up to the aliens back in the rafters. “Kind of hard to pay attention with that going on.”

Thea couldn't argue with that. She knew it was probably easier not to watch the rest of them get pounded, but Mon-El actually came close to holding his own against Supergirl, so he was worth watching. That, and he was really hot.

Thea grimaced. She had gone a little too long without something and it was starting to affect her judgment. She would have to deal with that. Later.

She frowned. Wait a minute, where was Oliver going? The show wasn't over, and why did Barry look so upset? What weren't they telling them?

“Ooh,” Felicity said with a wince. “There goes the van. Remind me if we do this again not to park anything inside the practice area.”

“She can fly,” Thea said, since that was what made the van a Daxamite punching bag, her flying out of his reach at the last second and leaving the van to take the hit. “Is there anything not in her practice area?”

“Good point.”

“We so have to make him a costume,” Cisco said. He started nodding before going back to the desk. Thea frowned. “After we figure out the mind control. Right. That first.”

“I think we're going to have to stop them,” Thea said. “Call it a draw or something so that everyone else can get back to work.”

“Uh huh,” Caitlin said, still watching the aliens with fascination. “The strain this sort of thing should be putting on their bodies is almost immeasurable, and yet they don't seem to show any signs of fatigue. This is incredible.”

Thea frowned. “Where did she go?”

Mon-El was looking around for Supergirl, too, frowning, and then almost out of nowhere, she flew over and knocked him to the ground, pinning him to the broken concrete not too far from where the rest of them were standing.

“Give up, Daxamite,” Supergirl said, smiling down in triumph.

“I... accept your surrender,” Mon-El told her, making her laugh. She leaned back, holding out her hand and helping him up to his feet again.

“Ah, man,” Felicity said. “The show's over.”

* * *

Caitlin's instincts as a doctor took over, and she rushed toward the aliens, not caring if they were smiling and laughing over the crater they'd created. No one should be able to do that, and they shouldn't be able to walk away from it, either. Something had to be wrong. She didn't care if they were from another planet or metahumans. They couldn't do that sort of thing.

“Mind control,” Thea reminded Felicity, and the other woman nodded, going back to Cisco's side, the two of them quickly lost in their work again.

Caitlin reached the aliens. “Are you sure you're not bruised or—”

“In my pride only,” Mon-El assured her with a small smile. “I hate getting beaten by a—”

“Girl?” Thea asked, coming over to join them, arms folded over her chest.

“I was going to say Kryptonian,” he told her, and her expression changed. She grinned back at him, and his fellow alien frowned. “I liked your little trick with the arrows earlier. It's kind of a shame Winn managed to make her such a resilient cape.”

Thea smiled. “Yeah, it kind of is. Speaking of... where is your costume?”

“Well, I did sort of promise Winn he could make me one and name me—me as a hero—but then I think he got mad at me for tricking him into getting drunk and going out on the town,” Mon-El admitted. “He said I used him, and it was—”

“You did use him,” Kara said. “You took advantage of his trust and you broke a man's arm—”

“In my defense, no one bothered to tell me that I had super strength. You all acted like I needed protection from the humans when the humans needed protection from me,” Mon-El said, arms folded over his chest. “You think I would have broken his arm if I knew what I was capable of?”

Kara grimaced. “Probably not, though you did work as an enforcer—”

“Debt collection,” Mon-El corrected, “and I was using my abilities on aliens, not humans.”

Kara shook her head. “You should probably look him over, Caitlin. He was poisoned not that long ago, and while he says he's fine, I'd like to be sure about that, especially after our little session. He probably pushed himself too hard.”

“Just because I managed to get a few good hits in does not mean that I overexerted myself,” Mon-El muttered as Caitlin started to scan him.

“Because I let you get a good hit in,” Kara said, arms over her chest.

“Would you two like to take it outside again? Or should we just lock you in a closet until you get it out of your system?” Thea asked, getting frowns from both of them. She shrugged. “I find I have a lot of things to work out after a fight, and sex can help with that.”

“Uh...”

“Let's just stick with the examination,” Caitlin suggested, aware of how awkward this was. “This is not my lab, and I don't have all the equipment that I'd like to use, but I wouldn't mind making sure that both of you are fine.”

“I'm invulnerable,” Kara said. “And I think I'm going to go talk to Wally. He said he wanted to fight, and I'm hoping that he's a little more aware of what he's up against now.”

Mon-El shook his head. “I still don't understand why anyone would want to do this.”

“Well, at first it seems... incredible. It's even a bit seductive,” Thea said. “You get blindsided by the idea of doing good or righting a wrong. I had to do something about what I'd done, and I thought joining my brother was the answer to that.”

“Kara and just about everyone else I met assumed that I would just want to do what she does,” Mon-El said. “Like I have these abilities I never had before, never asked for, and I'm just supposed to be a good person, a hero.”

“Try being predisposed to being evil,” Caitlin said, looking down at her own hands.

“You?” Mon-El frowned. “I don't see it. Then again, I'm really bad with earth customs and understanding people here, or so Kara is constantly telling me. That reminds me—her mother—adoptive mother—is an expert in alien microbiology on my earth. She was able to reverse a virus that was killing me—I was thinking she might be able to help you.”

Thea folded her arms over her chest. “You sure about that?”

“According to Barry, I was a pediatrician in Flashpoint,” Caitlin said. “There's a chance that this woman may not exist and if she does, she may not have any background in the field you've described. I went to my mother who was a bit of an expert in the matter, and she couldn't help me.”

“Isn't it still worth a shot?” Thea asked. “No harm in finding out if she exists, at least.”

Caitlin bit her lip. “I suppose not.”

* * *

“Where'd Ollie go?” Sara asked, frowning. “I know he said we were supposed to train with you, but I didn't think he intended for us to do that all day. And not that I want to admit it, but I kind of think that we've proved the point there.”

Kara grimaced, looking over at the other woman. “I wasn't trying to hurt anyone. Oliver did tell me not to hold back, and I didn't—”

“Oh, you did,” Sara said. “We'd all be dead if you didn't, judging by the pounding you gave the other guy. Nice job, the way. That was one hell of a show.”

“Thank you,” Kara said, though she hadn't been trying to put on a show, not really. She'd hoped that Wally would realize what he was trying to get himself into when he saw her fight Mon-El, but it wasn't just for show. Mon-El had surprised her, showing more enthusiasm and skill in that session than he had in their last dozen. Most of the time she thought he wasn't paying attention and didn't care, but that time he had gotten good hits in on her, and he'd made progress on mastering his speed as well as his jump, not just working on his strength.

“I think he left with Barry,” Wally said. “I was too focused on your fight. He was there, standing next to me, and then he wasn't. Not that I saw the lightning like when Barry rushes in and out, but I was distracted. Which I'm sure they'll take as a sign that I'm not ready for this. Again.”

“I had to deal with the same thing when I first started using my powers,” Kara said. “I saved my sister's life when her plane was about to crash, but she lectured me on exposing myself instead of being happy I'd saved her. I couldn't understand it. Later I learned it was because Alex knew that a bunch of dangerous aliens with grudges against my mother were free and I'd just shown them all that I survived Krypton. I bet they're just worried about you.”

“Families are always going to worry,” Sara told him. “That's just how it goes. My dad still worries even though I'm a trained assassin.”

Kara looked at her. “You're an assassin?”

“Reformed. Kind of.”

Kara frowned. She turned back to Wally. “The point is that they're concerned, and they could have good reason for that. This thing with the Dominators—we need to be careful. We don't know enough about them and what they're here to do. It's going to take all of us working together—”

“Or just one of you,” Wally muttered with a snort. “What good is another speedster with what you can do?”

“I... We're going to need all the help we can get, but we don't know what part everyone will play, not yet,” Kara told him with a smile. “I should probably find Barry.”

Sara walked with her toward the other room. “You handled him pretty well.”

“I know how it feels to be told that you can't be who you are,” Kara said. “I had to hide more powers for years, but now I don't. I made mistakes along the way, and I don't think this is the right place for someone new to be learning what to do, but we may need his help, so I don't want to alienate him, either. I made that mistake with Mon-El, too.”

“He seems to have gotten over it. And the fact that you just kicked his ass.”

Kara smiled, though she didn't like thinking about where his conversation with Thea might be leading. Even maybe Caitlin. That wasn't right. “Mon-El is pretty resilient.”

“Have to be, to be in our line of work.”

Kara couldn't deny that. They had to be able to get up and keep going even when things were at their worst. She stopped, listening for Barry or Oliver.

She flinched when she heard their raised voices. “That... does not sound good.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Dominators take the president, and the team goes after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the hardest part of this besides trying to do justice to the action instead of sidestepping it this time was figuring out just how much of the Flashpoint angle to include. The episode covered plenty of it, and it could be argued that they did much more with Flashpoint than was necessary. It made the Dominators seem like less of a threat, and instead of them joining together to fight an invasion... we got a four part exoneration of Barry.
> 
> I am not saying they didn't need to resolve that issue once and for all, but I do think that they could have done it in a way that didn't take away from the crossover.
> 
> I decided to move away from it here. I didn't cut it completely, but I think as the show more than covered that part, I don't think I could add anything to that, so I won't try. I also elected to alter a few other things, mostly I hope for the better, though I'm sure there will be people who don't agree.

* * *

“So... Do I want to know what that was about?”

Oliver gave the alien a suspicious glance, and she wilted a little under it, grimacing. For an all powerful being, she was far too easy to intimidate. She needed to work on that, or it was going to cause her a lot of trouble later.

“More about Flashpoint,” Barry told her. “The alternate timeline I created. There are apparently a lot more ramifications than I even began to realize.”

Oliver almost reached over and hit him. “Head in the game, Barry. We need you to focus. There are aliens here—and we're not talking about this one who is friendly and on our side. The others are not. Whatever happens in the future is in the future. There's not a damned thing any of us can do about it now. We have to make the best decisions based on what is happening to us at this moment.”

“You are... absolutely right,” Kara said. “I can see why Barry admires you so much.”

Oliver just shook his head. He didn't need flattery. What he needed was the next step, a way to fight back against the aliens who could be abducting people and experimenting on them right now. So far, a few training sessions against the one of the aliens they could trust was all they had, and it didn't come close to being enough, especially not with the kind of performance he'd seen.

They still needed to send some of the heavier hitters against her—and by that he didn't mean her fellow alien—but he could see already that their usual tactics weren't going to be enough. They would need more, probably some kind of technological marvel that he had no hope of creating or understanding.

“We need to see how far we've come with a way to block that mind control,” Oliver said. “Remember what I said, Barry. We will deal with Flashpoint later.”

Barry nodded, and Oliver left him there, walking toward Felicity and Cisco. He was halfway toward the desk when Felicity rose from her chair in a panic.

“Guys, that was Lyla,” she said, lowering her phone. “The president's been abducted by the Dominators. She needs us now.”

Oliver almost swore. “We're not ready for that.”

“What do you mean we're not ready?” Thea asked. “This is what we do—used to do—all the time. We rescue a prisoner, save the day, go home. We could probably do that in our sleep. I actually may have, since I was drugged by Malcolm—not the point. The point is that we know what we're doing.”

“Except for the fact that we don't have any way of countering the mind control yet, and we still don't know much of anything about these aliens,” Oliver reminded all of them. “I know that in the past, I have rushed into situations like this, but this time, we can't afford to do that. We make a mistake, we lose the world. We have to have some kind of plan.”

Cisco grimaced. “You are very right about that. I mean about not having a way to get around the mind control. Because we... um... don't. I've been playing around with some of the things we've made in the past, including a frequency jammer, but so far that isn't more than a theory. I haven't even started making a prototype.”

“We did want to do some recon,” Sara said. “Maybe this is how we do it. Either way, it's not like we can leave the president in the hands of aliens bent on taking over the world."

“No, we can't,” Oliver said, trying to think. At this point, he didn't have much of a plan, but it wasn't like they had a lot of alternatives, either. “All right, recon. We split the team. Half of you go after the president. The other half stays here—”

“And we have a countermeasure in place in case the team gets whammied,” Barry finished. Cisco looked like he might object for a second, but it wasn't like he could offer another suggestion, one that was better. This was all they had.

“So are we dividing up according to abilities?”

“I vote I'm not going,” the second alien said, getting a look from Supergirl. “What? I'm not a hero, and I've never rescued a president. You accused me of trying to kill one, though, and that should probably tell you—”

“He stays,” Oliver said before she could object to him. “If you're going, Mon-El stays. He's the best counter to you we have. Same with Barry and myself. Thea can go in my place, and Dig, too. Sara, Rory, and Firestorm.”

“Three of you against the rest of us if we get... what did you call that, whammied?” Dig asked, frowning. “Those aren't good odds.”

“Nate and Amaya have the Waverider if it becomes necessary,” Sara said. “Which it shouldn't be, right? We can handle rescuing the president.”

“This is a failsafe. We're hoping we won't need it,” Oliver said. “And I would have made Supergirl sit this one out, but she could end up dealing with the whole thing single-handed, so she goes. We'll deal with whatever comes after that when it does.”

“Hold on,” Thea began. “Since when do you sit back and let others fight the battles for you, Oliver? That is so not like you.”

He couldn't deny that, and he would rather go, but he knew that if something went wrong, there had to be someone left to fight back, and he didn't trust that to anyone else. He trusted himself, trusted Barry, and he got the other alien as a consolation prize. “It's not, but it's the way it has to be. Now go. Get the president.”

* * *

“Sure we're in the right place?” Heatwave asked, looking up at the factory in front of them. Kara had to wonder what it was about abandoned factories, but the criminals and even the aliens seemed to like them. Well, besides her. She wasn't all that fond of them.

She liked her apartment. She missed her apartment, and she had been about to help Mon-El get a place of his own. Strange how that all changed in so little time. Not that she wouldn't help him with that when they got back to their own planet, but first they had to save the president.

“Oh, this is the last place the President's tracer gave a signal," Ray answered. "Must be nearby.” 

Kara stopped, taking the time to scan inside the building with her x-ray vision. She could only see one human inside. “Yep. He's in there.” 

“How do you know that?” 

“I can see him,” Kara answered. She saw them staring at her, and she smiled. She hadn't actually said anything about that power of hers, not yet. “Oh, I have X-ray vision.”

“Oh,” Heatwave said, making her uncomfortable again. “You can see everyone's bits with those little peepers, huh?”

“No, I...”

Sara shook her head, rolling her eyes. “Ignore him.” 

Kara would try to, but she didn't know that she could. They were supposed to be working together, and he kept looking at her funny. She should be used to it by now, but she wasn't. She tried to deflect it instead. “How did you get the name Heatwave?” 

He grinned. “I burned my family alive, and I like to light things on fire.” 

“Aah,” Kara said, trying to find a positive thing to say in the face of that. “Well, that's a colorful backstory.” 

“Well, my shrink thinks so,” he told her, still smiling. “By the way, I'm not gonna call you Supergirl. It's stupid.” 

She knew there were still people who had issues with her name—she still sometimes wondered if Cat had been wrong to brand her with it—but it wasn't stupid. It was in part a nod to her cousin and in part—who she was. Still, he didn't have to use it, and she didn't have to worry about a secret identity on this world. “You could call me Kara.” 

Heatwave shook his head. “That won't work, either.” 

She wouldn't care, and they should go in to get the president, but she still found herself asking, “Well, what're you gonna shout if you need my help?” 

“Skirt.” 

Thea looked at him. “Seriously?” 

“Seriously,” he agreed, “but I'm not gonna need your help.”

Kara shook her head, but she headed inside anyway, the others trailing behind her. She could have flown in, a quick swoop in and out, but she was part of huge, multiple dimension superhero team here, and she wanted to _be_ a part of it. She wanted to work with them, not against them.

“Look. The President.”

“Get me out of here!” the president shouted. 

“This doesn't feel right,” Jax said, and Kara had to agree.

“Something's coming,” Kara said, hearing them approach. She faced the Dominators, reminding herself that this was not a legend and she was a hero here, not a child. “Release the President.” 

The Dominator spoke in a jarring hiss of a voice. “We knew you would come.” 

“Did you guys hear that?” Ray asked, “'Cause I heard it in my head.” 

“Yeah, we heard it.” 

“Well, if nobody else is freaked out by it, far be it for me to panic.” 

Kara spoke to the Dominator again. “You don't need to harm him to get whatever it is you want from us. Release him and nothing will happen to you.” 

“He's not who we want,” the Dominator said, killing the president with some kind of green light or laser. She didn't remember that from the legends. She would have to ask Mon-El if he did. 

“It's a trap!”

She heard a high pitched whistling and tried to cover her ears as it forced her to her knees. She hadn't felt anything this bad since Silver Banshee made her bleed.

“Supergirl, do something!”

* * *

“You know,” Mon-El observed, looking at the doorway that the other two heroes had gone through and then back at the man behind the desk. He wasn't the only one there, but of all the people in the room, he was probably the one that Mon-El was the most comfortable with. He kept making mistakes with earth women, and he had a feeling that if he did that with Caitlin or Felicity, he would be in a lot of trouble and not just from them. “If I were doing what you're doing right now, I'd have gotten my ass kicked, and not just by the Kryptonian.”

Cisco looked up at him. “Your point?”

Mon-El shrugged. “Just think there are better ways of spending your time than letting him get to you. I'd find a bar about now, but unless the alcohol is alien or made by one, I can't actually feel it, and what is the fun in that?”

“You sound like Barry. He can't get drunk, either. Only he moped about it.”

“I'm not moping,” Mon-El said. “I was thinking of two possible distractions.”

Cisco frowned. “I'm intrigued despite myself. Wait, are you going back to the costume idea? I haven't had any time to work on it since we've been trying to figure out that whole mind control problem, but I haven't forgotten about—oh, wow. Is that why you weren't willing to go out there with them tonight? Because of the whole lead thing?”

“Lead thing?” Caitlin asked, lifting her eyes from the monitor next to Cisco.

“Man, I don't believe that,” the young black man said, one Mon-El had no name for since he hadn't been introduced to this one yet. “You could be out there, fighting, and they'd let you. They'd want you to do it, but you're not going because you have no costume?”

“And a really nasty allergy to lead,” Cisco said, making Caitlin frown.

“Allergy?” the other man asked. “To lead? Why is that even an issue? It's not like you're up against some jerk with a lead pipe?”

“No, Wally, but if the allergy is severe enough, then even just one bullet could be fatal,” Caitlin said, frowning in concern. “That is... I'm not even sure you should go out there. You could be killed by a ricochet or something.”

“Damn, that sucks,” Wally said, wincing. “All that power, but you'd be down in an instant, huh?”

“Which is why we might actually have to take a break from the mind control concern to work on a costume because seriously, we need our second most powerful weapon to be able to survive the fight,” Cisco said, turning to the others. “Am I right or am I right?”

“I think you may have a point there,” Felicity said. “We're up against superior numbers, conventional weapons are pretty ineffective, and we need the kind of powerhouse you've already shown yourself to be.”

Mon-El looked at her. “I'm not a hero. Though... I admit was curious about seeing if Daxam did exist in this universe.”

“Would you go back?” Caitlin asked. “I mean, would you try and go there if you could?”

Mon-El grimaced. “I'm not really sure there's a place for me there, either, but at least if it wasn't destroyed here... Maybe it would feel a little less wrong that I'm the only one who survived in my universe.”

“We will so find out for you,” Cisco told him. “First, though, we really need a costume for you. Hey, question, in that painting you mentioned of Valor, what color was his armor?”

“Um... Red with blue and yellow accents, but no. I am not going to be a rip off of Kara's cousin, okay? That's not happening,” Mon-El said, shuddering. He knew someone, he forgot who, had said he looked like Kal-El, and he didn't want to go there. That was all sorts of wrong. “And I didn't actually say that I wanted a costume—”

“He could try black,” Felicity said. “It's kind of working for him right now.”

Mon-El frowned. His clothes were given to him by the DEO, and he'd only worn other things after Kara tried to make him over as Mike Matthews. He hadn't actually thought about getting clothes of his own—and no one had loaned him the money to do it with. Maybe he really did need a job.

“Um,” Caitlin began, “did we accidentally turn the comms off on the team? Because I haven't heard anything from them in a while. Since they left, I think.”

Mon-El grimaced. That was probably his fault, since he'd distracted everyone.

Cisco and Felicity started typing, both of them at the same time. “Comms are definitely off-line, and not on our end. We don't have any way of contacting the team.”

“I'm not so sure we're going to need it,” Felicity said, and the whole building shook.

* * *

“I guess this proves that the whole mind control idea was right,” Barry said with a wince, taking another look at the others on the screen now that they were in the main part of the lab. He turned to the Cisco, but the other man wasn't looking at him. This time he was distracted, so it wasn't personal, but Barry still felt a bit like it was. “Guys, you can figure out how that's happening, right?”

Cisco and Felicity nodded. “Yes, we can. We're going to need a few minutes to do it.”

“We can buy you time,” Oliver said, taking out his bow. “Mon-El, you're with us.”

“Uh, I'm not so sure he can do that,” Caitlin said, making them all frown. “Someone neglected to mention that he has a severe allergy to lead. If Dig shoots him, he can die.”

“Dig's rounds are custom made, intended to pack as much of a punch as a non-lethal round can. If it hits, it hurts, but you should be fine,” Oliver told him. “Suit up.”

“He also doesn't have a suit.”

“I was speaking—never mind. Let's just get out there before our friends destroy the building,” Oliver said, and Barry nodded, pulling his hood on before taking hold of the other men and whisking them outside. He stopped them in front of the building, looking around for the others.

“Okay, this is... like something out of a horror movie,” Barry said. “They're just missing a bit of makeup and gore.”

“No talking about zombies,” Cisco said over the comms. “I cannot think about zombies while I am trying to find out how they became... zombies.”

“I'm thinking that word doesn't mean what I think it means,” Mon-El said, and Oliver looked at him. “What? English isn't my first language. That word means something else on my planet and—”

“That is not important right now,” Oliver snapped. “Mon-El, Supergirl is yours. Barry, you take Firestorm and Atom.”

“And you get the rest?” Barry asked, frowning.

“What, like you can't handle those two?” Oliver asked with a grin, stepping out to fire an arrow at his sister. Barry shook his head. That was pretty cold, and he was glad he didn't have a sister to fight against. He couldn't do it if he did.

“Hey, Supergirl,” the Daxamite called, finishing the rest of his speech in what must have been his or her language. Barry figured he didn't want to know what it meant, because it sent her flying at him like a bullet. She nailed him to the ground, living a deeper crater than the one they'd made back at the warehouse.

He didn't have time to keep watching them, even as fast as he was, because Firestorm swooped down to launch a fireball at him. He started running, knocking Heatwave down as he headed up to the roof of the building. He started running in a circle, charging up his shot. He figured if he generated enough energy, the lightning could take out both the Atom and Firestorm, and he could get back and help Oliver.

He stopped, throwing the bolt at Ray first and then at Jax. Barry winced as Ray tumbled, then Jax. The suit, at least, should protect Ray, but he wasn't sure about Jax. He hadn't wanted to hurt either of them, but maybe they'd reset if they were unconscious?

He hoped that would work.

Something hit him right in the chest, and he fell backward off the roof, landing hard on the ground. Groaning, he tried to pick himself up again. “Ugh. I thought you were supposed to be keeping her busy.”

“She flies. I leap,” Mon-El said, jumping down next to him. He held a hand out to Barry, helping him up. “I would have thought she'd be angrier about that whole thing with—oh, she's still angry.”

“You sure you got this?” Barry asked after pulling Mon-El out of Supergirl's heat vision.

Mon-El eyed Kara warily. “If I say no, does that mean you'll stay?”

Barry laughed, patting him on the back before rushing off to find Oliver and the others.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry and Oliver find a way to end the mind control.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I tried hard to do the whole action, but as I hit the scene where Barry lures Kara to destroy the device, I could only come up with Barry ran, Barry ran, Barry ran. The show did a good job with the special effects there, and I think that's a much better way to think of that scene, so I skipped to the aftermath. I really wanted to know what it was like for the mind-controlled people, so I explored that a little, and I am developing something with the Mon-El angle, too.

* * *

“And here I thought you had it all covered,” Barry teased as he zoomed up to Oliver, toppling Thea just before he did. She went down, leaving Oliver to wonder if he was going to have to hurt his friend or if he would be facing his sister again in a second. “What, you couldn't handle that?”

Oliver snorted, moving to block an attack from Dig. He countered, landing a blow to his gut that should have knocked the wind out of him. Nice to know mind control ignored crap like that. “Like you didn't take a header off that roof.”

“Blame the new guy,” Barry said, and Oliver grunted. While Barry had come far in his ability to fight and his confidence, they were still outnumbered and fighting their friends. Three down, but four up, and while most of them weren't metas, the alien made up for that.

“He's not much of a fighter,” Oliver agreed, dodging another shot from Dig. He reached for an arrow, firing it at his friend. He could have killed him ten times over in this fight, which was half the problem. If he wanted to, he could stop them. Trouble was, it would be forever.

“Against Supergirl, none of us are,” Barry reminded him, speeding around Sara. He held up all of her weapons, getting a glare from her before she rushed after him. Oliver knew she could fight unarmed, but she wasn't exactly thinking straight.

How far would this mind control push them? Would they even be able to stop?

What the hell were they going to do if Firestorm and Atom got back up?

“Speaking of new guys,” Barry said, and Oliver felt himself jerked to the side, just out of the path of the two aliens as they impacted where the two of them had been standing. Oliver shook his head, reaching for an arrow. Sara must have recovered her eskrima while Barry was moving them. Oliver would have words for him later. A lot of them.

Another streak of lightning ran toward Sara and Dig, knocking them both to the ground. Stopping, Wally grinned, looking entirely too proud of himself. “Kid Flash.”

Oliver began, seeing the red cape move, and he opened his mouth to say something, but he only got as far as that when the alien hit Wally full force before rushing up into the sky again. Oliver lost track of her, unable to see her in the sky, but he'd take the reprieve for now, since it let Barry get a look at Wally.

“That... probably broke something,” Mon-El said as he came up behind Oliver.

“You are really bad at running interference.”

Mon-El gave Oliver a look. “Like you would have been up in an instant after that.”

“We don't have time for this,” Barry said, and Oliver nodded. He would have liked to tear the alien a new one for that fight—if he could even call it that—but he was more concerned with not knowing where the other alien was. “If she hits another one of us like that—”

“Well, one of us would survive,” Oliver began, looking at Mon-El, and the alien grimaced.

“She went to the roof,” Mon-El said, and Oliver frowned. He'd thought the man was just winded, but he sounded like he was in pain. “She's going to wake the others up and bring them all after you again.”

“Damn it.”

“Guys, Wally's hurt bad, but he's alive,” Barry said, looking his friend over in concern.

“Let's get an ETA on overriding the mind control,” Oliver said. If they could stop that, they wouldn't have to worry about Supergirl waking anyone or the fact that three of the others were starting to move again.

“Bingo,” Cisco said at the same time as Felicity said, “Yahtzee.” 

“You go first,” Cisco said, and Oliver would have yelled at both of them if he wasn't thinking he'd have to shoot an arrow at his own sister. Again.

“You go first,” Felicity disagreed. “It's your office.” 

“There's a weird signal coming from the salt mines.” 

“For the record, that is what I was gonna say.”

Oliver fired another arrow at Dig, dodging one from Thea as Sara came toward him. He kept his eyes on her. “Mon-El—”

“Can you jam the signal?” Barry asked, still kneeling next to Wally. Oliver almost ordered him up to the roof, even if Mon-El could withstand her abuse better than most.

“Uh, no.” 

Oliver shook his head, blocking a blow from Sara. He knocked her back and took on Dig for a minute. They needed to do a hell of a lot better than no. They had to stop this. “Barry—”

“Mon-El, I need you to—Are you—you were shot—you're bleeding,” Barry said, knocking down Thea a second time as he zoomed over to the Daxamite. “How are you bleeding? Kara's invulnerable and that arrow isn't made of lead and—”

“Something else was,” Oliver said, thinking back to the pain he'd heard in the other man's voice earlier. “When?”

“Probably... that crater over there,” Mon-El said, reaching over to pull the arrow out of his shoulder and letting out what Oliver had to assume was the worst of curses in his native language. “That... hurt.”

“How many of those do you have left?” Barry asked, nodding to Oliver. 

With two wounded men and a chance that the other heavy hitters would be back with Supergirl, there was only one answer for that. “Probably not enough.”

“How bad is it?” Barry asked, looking Mon-El over. “Are we talking—”

“Fighting Kara now would probably kill me, but the last time this happened was a lot worse. Then again, the bullet was still in me,” Mon-El answered, putting a hand over his wound. “Told you I wasn't a hero.”

Oliver grunted. Barry shook his head. “You did fine. Oliver, if you can hold them off, buy a little time, Mon-El and Wally can get inside and I'll go head off Supergirl.”

“You can't outrun her forever,” Oliver reminded him.

“If they can't shut it down, maybe she can,” Barry said, rushing off in a flash of lightning.

Oliver looked at the alien. “We need to move.”

* * *

Kara found herself on the ground, hands and knees, and frowned in confusion. Her head hurt, and her ears were ringing. She felt a bit like she'd lost a fight against Metallo, even if there shouldn't be any Krytonite here. She pushed herself up to where she could see, recognizing the warehouse as the one they'd come to rescue the president from, but she didn't remember anything after he died.

She frowned, looking over at Barry. “What just happened?”

“You didn't kill me,” Barry told her, “so my day is looking up.”

She frowned, not sure why he'd say that. She must have tried to hurt him, and she could have. She could have done so many terrible things, but she didn't remember them. “I'm so sorry.”

“I'm fine,” Barry assured her, “and so is almost everyone else. I mean, Wally should be because he'll heal, he's a speedster.”

“I hurt Wally?”

Barry grimaced. “Yes, but it wasn't you. You were mind-controlled, and you are not the hero who has been.”

Kara put a hand to her head, trying to remember. “I don't know what I did. It's like... nothing. When I was under the red Kryptonite, I remembered everything I did, every terrible thing I said and did, but this... This is just a blank. It's like I wasn't there. I don't... Barry, what did I do?” 

“What we figured that you—and everyone else—might do if you were mind-controlled. You came after us at STAR labs and tried to kill us. You didn't,” Barry assured her. “For the most part, you knocked Mon-El around, which was... fine.”

Kara started to nod and stopped. “No, it's not. You just said it was fine, and it's not fine. I can hear it in your voice. What aren't you telling me?”

Barry winced. “Well, it... Mon-El may have hit something that had lead in it, because Thea was actually able to hit him with an arrow and—”

Kara didn't hear the rest. She was already in the air, rushing back to STAR labs. She couldn't believe this. She had almost killed Cat Grant, and she still hated herself for that, but she might have killed Mon-El, and he wouldn't even be here if not for her, and he was going to die away from everyone he knew.

She flew into the lab, stopping in front of Cisco's desk. “Where is he?”

“Nice to see you, too, Supergirl. Glad you're back from the whole mind-control—”

“Cisco, please,” she said. “Barry told me that I hurt Wally—”

“Calm down,” Cisco said. “While you do hit like a truck, Wally's already started healing, and he's getting the lecture of his life for it. Not that he wasn't helpful, but he could—”

“And Mon-El? Did he really get exposed to lead again?”

Cisco grimaced. “Apparently, some of the construction prior to when STAR labs was put in used a lead alloy for piping, which you did actually slam him into hard enough to break one—and yeah, it kind of cut him—”

“Where is he?” Kara asked, about to fly off and find him herself. It might even be faster.

“Kara,” Caitlin said, coming into the room. “It's okay. He's in better shape than Wally is. The exposure seems to have been minimal. The cut weakened him, allowing Thea to hit him with the arrow, but since I can't even draw blood from him now, I'm thinking he's already on the path to recovery.”

“Oh, thank Rao,” Kara said. “And Wally will be okay, too?”

“Yes,” Caitlin said. “I'll take you to them. And maybe you can tell me a thing or two about this allergy of his. Lead is a poison for humans, and while chelation therapy might be an option, it's not fast enough if he's exposed in a higher dose.”

Kara grimaced. “I'm not much of an expert. I know for me, when I'm exposed to Kryptonite, it makes me weak, but I can recover if I get away from it. That's probably what happened—he got away from the pipe that cut him and he's getting better.”

“But if a bullet hits him—”

“He couldn't get away from it, and it would kill him,” Kara said. “It almost did once.”

* * *

“Since I know you'll hit me even when you're not mind-controlled, how do I know that you're you?” Mon-El asked, teasing Kara as she came back in the room. He already knew it was her. He could tell in the way she moved. She wasn't on some kind of mission, and the hesitant part of her that she played up for her Kara Danvers role was showing as she approached him.

“I'm definitely me,” Kara told him. “And I am so sorry.”

Mon-El shrugged, wincing a little to discover his shoulder was still tender where the arrow had hit him. “I'm fine. Might apologize to Kid Flash, though. I think you broke him a little.”

“I already spoke to him,” Kara said. “I think Iris hates me.”

“Alex gets the same way when you're hurt. Must be a sister thing,” Mon-El said. He wouldn't know. He didn't have any sisters. “She'll forgive you. No one stays mad at you.”

Kara laughed, just for a moment. “You know that's not true.”

“Does Cadmus actually count? They hate everyone,” Mon-El said, and she shook her head. “I think the important thing is that Wally doesn't hate you. Barry doesn't hate you. I'm not sure about Oliver, I don't know that he likes anyone.”

Kara smiled. “I think he does, but it's hard to gain his trust. Caitlin said she had a few more tests she wanted to do on you. She's really worried about your allergy.”

“I'm fine.”

“She's not the only one,” Kara told him. “You shouldn't have to worry about a random pipe killing you when you go outside—”

“I was worried about you,” Mon-El said. She looked at him, and he coughed. “Um, worried you were going to kick my ass like you always do when we're in training. That's all.”

She reached over and took his hand. “I'm glad you're okay. I would hate it if anything happened to you because of me. And I say that, and it's not like you haven't been hurt because of me more than once and it's just—”

“Kara, I'm fine. I can prove it to you—”

“No, don't,” Kara said. She sighed. “Just stay still and rest. I need to go see if there are any more of those things around the city—”

“That's insane,” Mon-El told her. “Yeah, you're fast enough to do it, but what's to stop you from getting taken over by that thing again? Whose dumb idea was it to send you out to do it?”

He knew as soon as he asked it that he'd made a mistake. She'd chosen that course for herself, and she thought it was the right thing to do. She was used to being the only hero in the city, or close to it—J'onn didn't usually go out as a martian, and Guardian—well, he helped, but he wasn't someone she knew and trusted, not like here. Plus, he was about gadgets. These people had powers like her. Or some of them did.

“Let Barry search the city. He knows it, he's fast enough, and if you have to, you can stop him and destroy the device,” Mon-El said. “Please. Just let someone else handle it. I... I don't mind fighting you when you're... you. Fighting you when you're a zombie is not okay.”

She frowned. “Do you mean that the way they mean that or how it's typically used on Daxam?”

Mon-El grinned. She folded her hands over her chest and glared at him.

“That's not funny.”

“Sure it is.”

She rolled her eyes. “And Alex wonders why I hate horror films.”

He laughed.

* * *

“Supergirl make it back?” Barry asked when he reached the group standing outside STAR labs. He looked around, glad to see there was no major damage to anyone. Jax and the professor were separated, and they looked okay. Ray was out of his armor and standing around, so that was a good sign, right?

“She flew by a while ago,” Thea said. “I would have thought that was you for a second, but it wasn't lightning.”

“Was still red,” Mick said. “Though better looking.”

Barry looked at the others. “Everyone feels okay? No lasting damage or sign that the mind control isn't all gone?”

“We're good,” Sara said. “Few bumps and bruises. No more than usual.”

“Wally's already started to heal,” Cisco added. “Perks of being a speedster. He should be over what Supergirl did to him in almost no time.”

Barry nodded. That was good. “What about Mon-El?”

Thea frowned. “I thought he was invulnerable.”

“So, wait,” Barry said before they got sidetracked by the lead allergy and all of the implications of it, “you don't remember anything about being mind-controlled?”

Mick shook his head. “No.”

“I wouldn't think he had a mind to be controlled.”

“Nice one.”

“All joking aside,” Oliver said, “we do need to know if you remember anything from your time under the device.”

“Not a thing,” Stein said, “though I had thought perhaps that was because Jax and I were merged at the time. This does give it an interesting complication. We know nothing of what we did during that time. Goodness, what horrors could we have done?”

“Yet there had to be some part of you still intact,” Barry said. “The part that knows your abilities and how to fight—not just muscle memory—but remember, Oliver, Mon-El was able to provoke Kara into attacking him.”

Oliver nodded. “He did.”

“And in another language, one we don't know that the Dominators speak, so at least part of you is still there under the Dominator control,” Barry said. He shook his head. “I'm not sure how that helps us, though.”

“It might be something we can use if we come up against it again,” Cisco said. “Though... I don't know how. We'll have to—okay, it's official, I wish I was an alien.”

“Someone heals fast,” Oliver observed as Mon-El and Kara joined them. Barry looked at him. Was that suspicion? Did Oliver actually think that Mon-El had lied about the lead allergy or was it the exposure to lead that he doubted? It was kind of hard to deny what they'd both seen—Mon-El had been shot by Thea.

“Someone is extremely stubborn,” Kara corrected. “He keeps saying he's fine, even though Caitlin wanted to keep monitoring him.”

“I'm fine,” Mon-El insisted. “She's the stubborn—and insane—one. She seems to think she should fly around the city looking for more mind-control devices.”

Oliver gave her a look. “Not that you're not fast or that you couldn't destroy them on the spot like you did the last one, but I'm not sure you should be the one to do it. If there's any chance of you falling under their control again—”

“See?” Mon-El turned to Kara. “I told you. Bad idea.”

Kara rolled her eyes. “We don't know that they're triggered just by proximity. If that was the case, it would have worn off after we got far enough away.”

“Which could suggest that they placed the device where it was and lured you there to make sure you were still within its range,” Cisco said. He frowned. “We need to know a lot more about that device.”

“I did bring you back the pieces of it, remember?” Barry reminded him. Cisco gave him a look, and Barry almost sighed. Cisco still hated him for Flashpoint. That might never change. “Though if we could find another one, we might be able to study it. Mon-El, do you know of anything that can read Dominator language?”

“Gideon might be able to,” Sara said. “We can see if the Waverider can translate it.”

“Good idea,” Oliver said. “Barry, you check the city for more devices. We need to call Lyla, tell her that—”

A light shimmered around Sara, and suddenly she was gone. Vanished like she was sucked up to the sky. Barry stared, not understanding. What had happened to her? Where was she? Could these aliens actually teleport people?

Then Thea disappeared the same way, followed an instant later by Ray, and everyone started moving, running inside to shelter. Barry ran forward, toward Oliver, but he wasn't fast enough. He reached the spot where Oliver had been, there was nothing there.

Oliver was gone.

Their leader, the one everyone trusted, the man who was going to get them through this crisis—he was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team starts to work on finding their missing comrades.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I believe I'm going to skip over most of the Matrix/Black Mercy-esque/dream world. I can't see where I can add much to that part.
> 
> Honestly, I wish that they had separated the 100th episode of Arrow out from the crossover. This revisit of the past would have been fine as a standalone episode, and while it was nice seeing Moira and some others again, it felt out of place with the crossover. It was yet another thing that diminished the threat of the Dominators.
> 
> I worked on the surrounding stuff, changed a few minor things, and continued a little subplot I'm doing.

* * *

“What just happened?” Jax asked, looking at the street where the others had been. Barry was still standing there, but no one else was. Kara had pulled back those she could—Cisco and Heatwave—shielding them, and she thought that she'd seen Mon-El do the same for Felicity, covering her despite the fact that he'd just been injured.

None of the rest of them had been taken. Barry had been left to stand there in the street. She didn't understand. If that was the work of the Dominators, why had they only targeted those five? Or had they meant to take them all? Or kill them all?

Were the others already dead?

“Why did no one tell us they could do that?” Heatwave demanded. “Vaporizing is only okay when I do it.”

“You set things on fire,” Stein said, shaking his head. “That's not the same thing by any means.”

“No, that thing was totally Star Trek, right?” Cisco asked, coming back to the street. “They were teleported. Beam me up, Scotty, only without the actual request.”

“We better hope that's what it was,” Barry said, frowning. “That way at least they're alive. And we have to believe they're still alive.”

“You may come to regret that,” Mon-El said, and Kara looked over at him in shock. She couldn't believe he'd just said that. As soon as he saw her look, he sighed. “Sorry. It's just that... There was a reason Valor chose the people that the Dominators experimented on to settle the other planets. They were... hideously disfigured, turned into monsters—the people were afraid of them. They wouldn't live together. They... There was a conflict, almost a civil war. Valor offered the people colonization to keep the peace. And it worked.”

“How?” Felicity asked. “Weren't those creatures what they wanted?”

“No,” Mon-El answered. “The Dominators were afraid of them. They were the ones who could fight back more than anyone. They were... like Barry, with powers or great strength.”

“So do you,” Jax said, and Kara shook her head.

“No, on Krypton—and Daxam—we were ordinary. The powers we have are because we're on another planet with lighter energy and the sun there fuels us,” Kara said. “If we're not on earth, we're not as powerful.”

“That's something to explore later,” Barry said. “We have to find Oliver and the others.”

“I can contact Curtis, get him searching everywhere in Star City,” Felicity said. “Oh, and we can get his help with the alien technology, too. That is—and Cisco, maybe you could come with us and do that vibe thing you do. That might be our best chance of finding Oliver.”

“Absolutely,” Cisco said. “We could use a way to get there fast. Supergirl, don't suppose you could... help with that?”

Barry frowned, hurt. “Cisco—”

“Don't, Barry. We don't have time to argue about it,” Cisco said. “I'm going. You have to check the city for those things, and if you find another one, bring it to us in Star City. Let's go, Supergirl. You, me, and Felicity are in needed in Star City. Like... now.”

Kara looked at Barry and then at Mon-El. “I think maybe we should—”

“It's fine, Kara,” Barry told her. “Take them. I'll be along after I search the city here.”

Kara nodded. She didn't love it, but she knew that finding the others had to take precedence over fixing the problems in Barry and Cisco's friendship. “Okay.” 

“Wait, so now that Robin Hood is gone, we're taking orders from you?” Heatwave asked. “Who decided that?”

“We don't have time to take a vote again,” Kara said. “Barry is in charge, and anyone who has a problem with that will have to deal with me.”

Heatwave grunted. “Anything you say, skirt.”

“I vote we just hit him now,” Mon-El said, getting laughter from some of the others. Kara shook her head, going back to his side.

“Mon-El,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder, “please let Caitlin help you with the lead thing. We can't risk losing you.”

Mon-El grimaced, but he nodded. “I will. You just try not to get mind-controlled again, okay?”

She smiled at him before stepping back. She grabbed hold of Felicity and Cisco and took off into the air.

* * *

“If I may, exactly what is this... lead thing that has everyone so concerned?” Stein asked, and Mon-El grimaced. Kara was in Star City, the speedster was searching Central City, the jerk with the flame gun had decided he was going off to drink, and Mon-El was left with the two parts of Firestorm. They were strange, though he'd seen weirder before on Daxam.

“I am allergic to lead.”

“Aren't we all?” Jax asked, frowning. “Pretty sure its poisonous to just about everyone, even if I'm not a genius like Gray over here.”

“Yes, but our friend Mon-El is like Supergirl in that he is rather impervious to injury—except if exposed to lead. Am I correct in assuming that?” Stein asked, and Mon-El had to nod. It was true. He didn't like admitting it, but if he was exposed to lead, he could die, and so much for this whole hero thing. He'd be no good to Kara—anyone—if he died, so he had to find a way to avoid lead.

“Right,” Jax said. “So... how do we combat that?”

“Cisco said he could make a suit, but he's been very busy,” Mon-El said. “That and he wanted to make it red and blue and—no.”

“Well, Ray is kind of the expert on suits on the Waverider—”

“I would hardly suggest Mr. Palmer as an expert in fashion,” Stein said. “His suit and that of Mr. Heywood's leave quite a bit to be desired.”

“But they were able to make their suits with the Waverider, so if we got the right specifications for Mon-El, Gideon could make one for him.”

“Excellent suggestion, Jefferson,” Stein told him. “I believe we should begin by discussing this with Doctor Snow. Shall we, gentlemen?”

Mon-El shrugged. He wasn't so sure about the costume part, but he did want something that might protect him from death by bullet. A part of him still figured he deserved it, but he was doing better now, doing good. He needed to make sure he could stay alive to actually be useful to Kara.

He followed the others into the lab. Caitlin hurried over to them.

“Barry was in and out in under a minute, set up a search and disappeared. What is going on?”

“Oliver, Sara, Ray, Thea, and Dig were taken by the Dominators. Kara, Cisco, and Felicity went to Star City. Barry is checking the city for more mind-control devices,” Jax said. “Gray figures he can help you work on this guy's allergy.”

Caitlin nodded. “I had some thoughts about that. From what Kara said, exposure to the element weakens her—as it did with you, Mon-El, when the cut weakened you enough to let Thea's arrow hit you. You were strong enough after you came inside to where I couldn't get a blood sample, but if we were to expose you to lead for long enough for me to draw a sample—I'd like to get more than just a bit of blood.”

“Um... okay,” Mon-El said. He wasn't entirely comfortable with this, but he wanted to be able to do something. He didn't want to die to lead. “So... you think these tests can give you a way to counter this thing?”

“Maybe. A lot of people carry epinephrine to help counter anaphylaxis, but that's not really how your allergy works, is it?”

Mon-El shook his head. “No. I didn't really have trouble breathing, not like that. I just felt... weak. Sick. It was hard to move, to think... If Kara's father hadn't removed the bullet, I'm not sure I would have made it much longer.”

Caitlin nodded. Stein frowned. “It sounds a bit more like it mimics radiation poisoning rather than an allergic reaction, albeit at a very accelerated rate.”

“You may be onto something,” Caitlin said. “Maybe if we treat it like radiation, we might be able to come up with a solution. First, though, I think we better get those samples.”

Mon-El grimaced. He wanted to say no, but he also didn't want to die. “Okay.”

* * *

“Wow, that is... very impressive,” Felicity said, looking Supergirl over. She swore it was just a minute ago that the other woman was in full costume, cape, skirt, and all, and now she was looking like a—well, a bit like she shopped at the same store, glasses and all.

“Agreed,” Cisco said. “I mean, Barry does it, but it's not half as cool when he does it.”

“One question,” Felicity said. “What do you do with the cape?”

Kara frowned. “What?”

“If the costume is under your clothes, then where is the cape? It would be a little bulky, hard to hide, and I can't see it under that cardigan.”

“Are we really doing this right now?”

“No, we're not,” Cisco said, shaking his head as he walked away from them. Felicity figured that was more Flashpoint angst because what geek wouldn't want to know where the cape was hidden? That had to be one of the biggest questions to ask a hero.

She shrugged, walking into the Arrowcave with the two others behind her, stepping right into the middle of the conversation. “Guys, this is Kara Danvers and Cisco Ramon of Star Labs.” 

“Curtis,” he said, holding out a hand to Cisco. “Big fan.” 

“Rene Ramirez,” Wild Dog said, eying the others with suspicion. Well, suspicion for Cisco. Possibly a bit of admiration for Kara. She was pretty. And Supergirl. This was like Sara the canary all over again. A little.

“Rory Regan,” Ragman said, giving Cisco and Kara a smile and a nod. 

“Okay,” Cisco said. He pointed to Curtis. “Curtis, you're tall. Rene and Rory. That's two Rorys I know now. The other one, he's a douche, though. You're not a douche, are you?”

Rory shook his head, looking like he was younger than he was and way too innocent for this work. Again. “No.” 

“Okay, good,” Cisco told him. “I just had to make sure, right? Guys, we have to find Oliver and company, and I'm not talking about the cherished Disney animated film starring Billy Joel, okay? I'm talking—I got to vibe, all right? I need something to vibe off of, something personal.”

Felicity had been prepared for that. “I got one of his old bows here somewhere.”

“That'll do,” Cisco said like he was in the movie about the pig. Adorable, if a little insulting.

“Um, for those of us who don't know you as well—not me because I feel like we're best friends, we've known each other for a long time,” Curtis said to Cisco, acting a bit weird about the whole thing, which made Kara smile, even if Felicity figured she was feeling a little out of place. “Uh, what are you going to do exactly?” 

“Oh, right. Uh, I'm about to vibe,” Cisco explained. “It's this thing I do where, uh, I touch something. I can not only see the past, I can see the future, but most importantly, I can see where people are.”

Wild Dog had his fears confirmed, apparently. “So you're one of them... Metahuman?” 

“Yeah,” Cisco said, frowning. “Don't sound too excited about it.”

Felicity went over to the cabinet and took out the bow, carrying it over to him. “So this is it. Just—just please don't break it any more than it is already broken.”

Cisco nodded. Kara and the others watched him intently, never having seen this before. He closed his eyes and started to vibe. Felicity knew it wasn't that interesting to watch, not knowing what he was seeing, but she was still a little jealous that he could do that.

He jerked, coming out of the fugue. “I saw them. They're in some kind of stasis, like a ship. It's, uh, a little 'alien,' a little 'Star Trek'—J.J. Abrams style—and a whole lot of tech.” 

“Tech,” Felicity repeated. He looked at her. She shrugged. “You said tech.” 

“Yes, I said tech. It's an alien spaceship, Felicity. These guys aren't amateurs.” 

“Yeah, but—but—”

“I think I know where she's going with this,” Curtis said, giving them all a smile. “If we had some we might be able to download some intel off it, like, including everyone's location.” 

Felicity grinned. “Yes. Yes, that's what I meant. That's why we came in a big hurry, remember, Cisco? We got flown here and everything.”

Cisco nodded. “Right. Here's that bit of the mind-control device.” 

“The what?” 

“Wait,” Curtis said, “Are you saying we're gonna hack alien tech? This is seriously the best day of my entire life.”

* * *

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired and a little... sore,” Mon-El said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. “You have everything you need?”

Caitlin looked over the samples she'd taken. She had more than one vial of blood to use, and a few tissue samples. She needed to see the exact effect that the lead had on him to be able to work on countering it, and she was a little afraid that she wouldn't be able to.

At least she didn't have to worry about Wally. He was already improving, and the trouble would come when he was back on his feet before any of them were ready for it. Iris, especially. She was very unhappy with his attempts to be a hero, and so was Joe. Caitlin understood the fear, but she also knew that they weren't going to be able to stop him.

“I think I have everything I need,” Caitlin told him. “Jax removed the lead from the room, so you should start feeling better soon.”

Mon-El nodded. “I'm sure.”

She studied him. “Does it worry you? This weakness?”

He shook his head. “Not... I don't know. It's... I never should have survived my planet's destruction, so if a bit of lead gets me... Guess it was meant to happen.”

“How can you say that?” Professor Stein asked. “You are the last of your kind. That almost obligates you to stay alive, to preserve the legacy of your world and where you came from. Only you carry their traditions as well as their genetics, and you keep them alive in your memory. Think of the knowledge you possess. What you told us about the Dominators changed our entire approach to this threat. We did not go in blind. We were as prepared as we could hope to be, versus having nothing more than that footage from 1950.”

Mon-El shook his head. “You... really wouldn't say that if you knew more about my planet. You're... you're a lot like Kara—smart and moral—and you would not approve of the way Daxam was.”

“It's not my place to judge, though Jefferson would say I am very good at doing so,” Stein told him. He shook his head. “I think you may carry more guilt for surviving than you realize. No doubt you are aware of it, but you seem to take the blame for more than just living.”

Mon-El frowned. “Um... are we sure I'm the only one allergic to lead?”

Stein frowned. Caitlin laughed. “We're sure. Well, other than that it is poisonous to us humans as well. Still, it's not as deadly as fast for us as it is for you, I don't think. I'm going to test exposure levels and duration to try and get a better sense of it. In the meantime, you would probably be safer in some kind of body armor—”

“Oh, so I can add being a Guardian knock off to my humiliation? No thank you.”

“Perhaps something lighter yet durable,” Stein said. “I can have Jax look into the available fabrics on the Waverider.”

Caitlin nodded. “In the meantime, why don't you try and get some rest, Mon-El? I'll let you know what we came up with as soon as you're awake.”

He nodded, closing his eyes again. Caitlin turned to the professor, wondering if she should ask him about earlier with his daughter.

* * *

Barry stopped in the Arrowcave, looking around the room. Quite a few of them were staring at him, and he forced a wave as they continued to stare. He knew that he could be at STAR labs, but he wanted to be where the work was happening. He turned to Cisco, who immediately started to ignore him, and then to Felicity and Kara.

“Did something happen that I should know about?”

“Our attempt to hack the alien tech really didn't go so well,” Curtis said, grimacing. “So, I um... It just about exploded on us, and we're probably going to need a new piece of tech to work with.”

“Not a problem. I salvaged this from the alien craft before I came,” Barry said, tossing it to Cisco, who did catch it despite their problems. “What else are we going to need?”

“A regulator capable of handling the Dominator power source,” Cisco said. “We were just discussing where to find one when you got here.”

Barry nodded. “And?”

“I remembered that Van Horn enterprises was working on a prototype, and they have actually perfected it but it was stolen from them,” Curtis told him. “By a doctor named Laura Washington.”

Barry frowned. “Why did she want the regulator? What use is it to her? A sale on the black market?”

“No, apparently she uses the tech to augment herself,” Felicity answered. “She has enhanced strength, stamina, and lightning powers.”

“Not exactly different from someone in this room,” Kara said, nudging him.

Barry laughed. “And here I was going to say that about you. I mean, you're the one who's strong. I'm just fast.”

“Fast enough to throw lightning,” she said, smiling. He smiled back. “So... we're going to find Doctor Washington and get the regulator back, right? Do we have a location yet?”

“Yep,” Felicity answered. She wrote it down on a piece of paper, almost handed it over to him, and then stopped. “You... will be careful, right? We've already got too many people missing in action as it is.”

“Kara's practically indestructible,” Barry said. “We'll be fine.”

“Sure you will. Because she hasn't been at all moody while she was here, and we're not missing most of our team, and I'm not worried and going crazy because aliens are invading and—”

“I was not moody,” Kara said. “I was just—I just would rather Mon-El was here. I'm responsible for him. And I'm still worried about the lead thing. Still, I can do this, and we will all make it back safe. That is a promise.”

Felicity nodded. “Okay. I will take you at your word, Supergirl.”

“Supergirl?”

“Just wait until you can see what she can do,” Barry said. “So, should I race you there?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team in Star City recovers the part they need, and Mon-El talks Caitlin into a side journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I think the fact that it only took two chapters to cover the whole Arrow episode once the dream world was cut kind of shows just how little it had to do with the actual crossover/invasion. Not that I probably couldn't have found ways to extend that, but I didn't really see why I should. It seemed to me best just to cover a few points and address a few issues that weren't raised in the show. 
> 
> Mainly... Medusa, but a small other thing that if I was going to fully address it... I think I'd use it to change the course of Arrow. 
> 
> And yes, I skipped the space battle, too. The show covered that better than I ever could.

* * *

“You might not want to get up just yet,” Caitlin said, going back to the bed to guide Mon-El back down. All of these people with superpowers, they were so stubborn, always thinking they were healed or could heal before they were ready. She still worried about Barry, but he had come out okay so far. One of these days that would change, and she still didn't know what they'd do when it did, but for now... she just had to hope that he had enough help to keep him and the others safe through it.

“The lead has worn off,” Mon-El said. “I'm... fine.”

He started to stand up, got light-headed, and stumbled. She helped prop him up, and he grimaced. “Okay, I'm... There. I'm fine this time. Really.”

“You know you're not invulnerable, right?” Caitlin asked, starting another scan, wanting make sure he wasn't going to collapse again.

“Believe me, I have known that for a very long time,” Mon-El told her. He gave Caitlin a weak smile that had her concerned. “I really don't want to tell you how many times I've been in the infirmary since I've been on earth.”

Caitlin grimaced. “I don't think I want to know.”

She set down her scanner, making a few notes on the computer. She wanted to be sure she had an accurate picture on how Mon-El was recovering from the exposure she'd given him. She'd kept it as minimal as she could, not wanting to do more than get her samples, but she knew that it was still a risk for him. Cumulative exposure could be just as dangerous as a large dose.

She started to ask him about it when her phone buzzed. She picked it up and looked at the message. “Felicity says they're working on something they think will help them find Oliver and the others. And that Kara wants to know how you are.”

Mon-El looked at her. “It was just a few tests. Tell her I am fine.”

Caitlin folded her arms over her chest. “Tests can be frightening, too, and yours more so than others because we actually put your life at risk just to do them.”

“Your tests frightened you,” he said, and she wasn't sure she wanted to know how he was that perceptive. “You are afraid of what you can do.”

“I'm afraid of who I become when I do what I can do,” Caitlin said, closing her eyes for a second. “Yours isn't the only earth out there, and on one of the others—Caitlin Snow was Killer Frost. And that name... is exactly what it sounds like.”

She felt a hand on her arm and looked at him. “I... This could be a mistake, since we don't know that Kara's family has anything to do in the same fields they work in on my earth. We don't even know that they exist on this earth. And I'm not as fast as Kara or Barry, and I haven't actually tested trying to carrying anyone while using my speed—and I can't fly—but we could go see them.”

“We don't have time for that. We're in the middle of a crisis, people are missing, there are aliens out there with technology and abilities that we can't counter, and every expert here has already reached the same conclusion about me.”

“Those people are experts on human biology. From what little I understand of what Eliza and Alex—and Jeremiah, he might actually be alive and free here—do, their research was into alien biology. Eliza was capable of reengineering a virus—a biological weapon—not only to save me but to reverse J'onn's poisoning.”

“I'm not an alien.”

“But metahuman DNA is different,” Mon-El said. “I think, at least. I'm not that smart, and I couldn't hope to understand it all... And there might even be a reason to talk to them besides your abilities.”

Caitlin frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Medusa.”

She bit her lip, arms folded over her chest. “You mentioned that before. What is Medusa?”

“A virus.”

“The same virus that almost killed you virus?” Caitlin asked. Her mind was already trying to wrap itself around the possibilities there. “It was a biological weapon—targeted against Daxamites?”

He shook his head. “It was actually developed to kill anything that wasn't Kryptonian. It was modified first by Cadmus to kill anything that wasn't human. Eliza was able to counter it and use it against the poison in J'onn.”

Caitlin stared at him. “Are you saying you think we should use this virus against the Dominators?”

“No.”

Caitlin let out a breath in relief. “Okay.”

“I'm _not_ a murderer. I may not be a very good person, but I don't advocate slaughtering people, even if they are invading,” Mon-El said, looking a bit hurt.

“But if we could do enough damage or cause enough pain to make them back off or disable them without killing them—that would be a viable weapon against the Dominators.”

“So...” Mon-El said. “Does this mean we're going to go see Eliza?”

Caitlin took in the slight smile he had with a suspicious frown. “You are a terrible influence, aren't you?”

He grinned.

* * *

“I really missed working with you,” Kara said as Curtis operated on Laura Washington. Another Cyborg. Kara didn't understand how that would be appealing, mixing their bodies up and becoming part machine. She could fly, and she was strong, and she knew when she'd lost her powers, she felt weak and useless, but she had stopped a robbery without them. She'd learned to use more than just brute force.

She still wouldn't want to make herself into a robot if she lost her powers.

Barry nodded. “It was a lot of fun.”

“Maybe even too much,” Rene muttered, and Kara couldn't help thinking that they might have overdone it with the theatrics just a little. She knew the first time she'd fought with J'onn it had been a bit like that. She was just so thrilled to have heroes fighting beside her, ones she knew and trusted.

She couldn't count the Guardian in that, not when she didn't know who he was, and she wanted Mon-El to be like her, but he wasn't. It wasn't just that most of the time he refused to be a hero—she wasn't sure they'd ever be able to fight alongside each other, not when he was so vulnerable to lead.

“It was still awesome,” Curtis said. “That whole pass back and forth? Totally amazing.”

“It was.”

“We should try and work together more often,” Barry agreed, though Kara thought that their little display shouldn't have convinced Rene that they were on the side of good. They had overcome someone who was hurting him, but in a way that was more fun for them than practical or even... kind. It was like they were showing off.

And they were.

“Kara, you okay?” Barry asked, and she nodded, giving him a smile. She'd talk about that concern later. She figured it was better if they didn't discuss that in front of everyone, especially not someone who had doubts about them.

“I'm fine,” she said. “I'm just... I still haven't heard anything about Mon-El, that's all.”

“You're really worried about him, aren't you?”

Kara sighed. “As much as I've tried, he doesn't have the training he needs, and with that allergy—he may seem like one of the strongest people on the planet, but he's so... not. And if anything happened to him, I wouldn't forgive myself. I promised to help him, but I haven't. Not enough.”

“Now you sound like Oliver.”

Kara frowned, looking over the man in rags. “Um...”

“Not that he said it like that, but he did tell us, repeatedly, that we weren't capable of doing anything to protect the city and we were done. That he was not going to get the rest of us killed,” Rory said, and the other two nodded.

“He's right,” Curtis agreed. “Oliver does say that. A lot. It might be something all mentors do.”

“Or it could be because he's a jerk,” Rene said, but Barry just smiled.

“Oliver is tough, but he does care about you. All of you,” Barry said. “And he's hard on all of us. He shot me when we were training. Twice.”

“That's still a very messed up way of showing affection.”

Kara agreed, but then she remembered Alex showing her that she wasn't invincible. That she had a lot to learn. That was what all teachers had to show, though some methods were harsher than others. “I think we'll have to pull you all in for a bit of training after we get the others back.”

“With you?” Curtis asked, sounding excited. Rene gave him a look like he was crazy. “Awesome. I am so in.”

“Me, too,” Rory said.

Rene snorted. “I had enough of the green guy kicking my ass.”

“Wait,” Barry said. “Wasn't there one more of you? Where's Artemis?”

* * *

“We probably should have waited for morning for this,” Caitlin said, and Mon-El looked at her. Even on Daxam, he'd preferred the nighttime, and he still felt more comfortable there on his new planet. He didn't know that it would be the same now, with all the aliens dead and the only space that felt close to... home to him gone, but here, at least, it felt almost normal.

“Morning was typically when I was sleeping off whatever I'd drowned myself in the night before,” Mon-El admitted, getting a look from her. “Generally a bad time for me.”

She grimaced. “Well, it's also generally rude and sometimes frightening to have people show up on your front door late at night.”

Mon-El shrugged. “Do we actually think anything that can help us against the Dominators can wait? They have your friends, and if that mural was real—we do not want to see what the Dominators will do to them.”

Caitlin winced. “Okay, you win.”

Mon-El smiled, jogging up the porch and to the front door. He rang the bell and waited. Caitlin joined him just as the door opened to a face Mon-El wasn't entirely sure he recognized. He had been dying from lead at the time, but was that actually Kara's adoptive father?

“Are you... Jeremiah Danvers?” Mon-El asked. Caitlin gave him a look. “Oh, there's Eliza. So... yes, it must be him, right?”

“Can I help you?” Jeremiah asked, frowning at them. “How is it you know my wife?”

“Um, I don't,” Mon-El said, knowing that was awkward. “This... It would take a very long time to explain. We were just hoping you would be able to help us. That is... if you are in the same field here. You... you're both experts in alien microbiology, right?”

“You know,” Jeremiah said, shaking his head. “You might feel like it's a funny joke, you showing up at our house, but it isn't. I don't know how you found out about us, what conspiracy web site you used, but you can go.”

“We are scientists,” Eliza said. “Not... not alien enthusiasts. We study life in all its forms, including that which is different from our own. That doesn't make us crazy.”

“So... belief in aliens automatically makes someone crazy?” Mon-El asked, looking at Caitlin.

She grimaced. “Generally speaking, yes. It was only a couple years ago that metahumans showed up, and a lot of people struggle to accept them. Aliens are... a whole other level of belief. As is time travel, multiple dimensions, and coming back from the dead.”

Mon-El nodded. He turned back to the others. “You're not crazy even if you do believe in aliens. That's not actually—I had to sit through so many lectures on diplomacy. You'd think I'd be better than this.”

Caitlin smiled. “It's actually kind of charming in a way.”

“Not so much to us,” Jeremiah said. “Neither of you has explained what you're doing here or who you are, and I am going to ask you to leave.”

“Wait,” Mon-El said. He looked at Caitlin, and she nodded.

“I'm not sure if you're aware of the 'meteorite' that hit near Central City,” Caitlin began, watching them. They were still suspicious. “We were hoping you would be able to help us with that.”

“The government already refused our help,” Eliza said. “And I don't appreciate the—”

“We're not government,” Mon-El said. He frowned, not sure exactly what he was since he worked with the DEO, or if STAR labs had any government ties.

“We represent some private interests,” Caitlin said. “And I can assure you, we're not looking to commercialize your research. This is about saving lives.”

“You think the meteor is some kind of threat?” Jeremiah asked. “Is something from it making people sick or contaminating the environment?”

“You could say that,” Caitlin agreed. “Would you be willing to take a look at a few things for us? A few minutes of your time might tell us all we need to know.”

“And this is not some kind of... prank?” Eliza asked, frowning.

“Trust me,” Mon-El told her. “I would never do that to you.”

* * *

Cisco waited in the Arrowcave, knowing that if he did, he didn't have to interact with Barry, who was probably already back on his way to Central City. He'd probably taken Supergirl with him, which was a shame, but Cisco was fine with Barry being gone.

Fine enough that Cisco wouldn't mind spending more time here—not that he could, what with all the problems they had in Central City, but he could get used to the new Team Arrow. They didn't really need him with Curtis and Felicity, but maybe he could talk one of them into a transfer...

“Any luck with the regulator we took off Cyberwoman?” Rory asked, and Cisco had to admit that he preferred the guy out of his creepy robes.

“Cyberwoman?” Cisco asked, smiling. “I think I'm starting to like you guys.” 

“The regulator worked,” Curtis reported, sounding pleased but following it up with a very disappointed, “but my translator did not. The only thing I got back from the Dominator tech was soup.”

Cisco grimaced. He hadn't gotten enough out of the vibe, not enough to tell them where the others were, and they had to get Oliver back. Not that the others weren't important, but the Green Arrow was in charge, the one they all trusted, unlike Barry.

“What?” Felicity asked, frowning. Her fear for the others came into her voice. “Well, no, no, no. This—no. This just looks random.” 

“It's not,” Rory said. “It's Gematria. Gematria is the numerology of—” 

“Of the Torah,” Felicity said, taking back the tablet. “How did I not see that?” 

“For the gentiles and those of us who actually had social lives in high school,” Rene said, “what the hell are you talking about?” 

“In Hebrew, each letter possesses a numerical value,” Rory said. “Gematria is the calculation of the numerical equivalents of letters, words, or phrases.” 

“You mean, the Dominators' language is based off the Old Testament?” Curtis asked, which Cisco found both interesting and extremely creepy all the same time. 

“Or shares commonalities at least,” Rory said, shrugging. “You wanted proof of a divine plan to the universe, right?”

“Guys, I'm getting references to five Terran captives here, okay?” Felicity said. “The signal's coming from—that's not possible. I mean—it's possible, but I was hoping it wasn't that because I don't know how we're going to get them back from there.”

“Wait,” Cisco said, hoping he was very wrong about this. “The ship they're on—it's in space?”

“Yep.”

* * *

“So... HR,” Barry began, looking around the room with a frown. “Where is everyone?”

“Wallace remains where he is, largely in part to efforts by his sister and father, who are still with him,” HR reported, and Barry grimaced. Kara knew he felt he should be there, but he'd prioritized saving the others. Kara didn't think he was wrong to do it, but she understood that guilt.

“It's fine, Barry. Go check on Wally. They haven't found Oliver yet, and you have time,” Kara told him. He nodded and zoomed off to the other room.

“I wasn't finished,” HR said, then he shrugged. “Let me ask you something—do you think that this place would make a fine museum?”

“It's a top secret hero facility,” Kara said, frowning. “Wouldn't that be a very bad idea?”

“Not necessarily. See, I have a contingency for this,” HR began. He stopped. “Only you have no interest in hearing it because you want to know where they stand on that lead problem, don't you? Professor Stein rejoined his companions on his ship, though he's supposed to come back, I believe. Doctor Snow and your alien friend left together—”

“What?” Kara asked, not willing to believe it. That couldn't be possible. Mon-El might be a flirt, but he wouldn't have done that here, right? This was about his lead allergy. Caitlin was a scientist, she was helping him. That was it, right?

“I believe they said they were going to recruit someone with a background in alien biology.”

Kara frowned. “Why would they do—they couldn't find anyone—there aren't people with that kind of background on a planet without aliens. That can't be—he wouldn't—”

“I think you might want to—”

Kara didn't wait for him to finish. She took off, rushing into the air. She didn't know what Mon-El was thinking. No, she did know. Mon-El wasn't thinking. He didn't think, or if he did, he thought only of himself.

She flew toward Midvale, telling herself she had to be wrong. Mon-El wouldn't really go bringing her adoptive family into this. They were civilians here, with no ties to aliens or secret organizations. They didn't know anything about aliens. About her.

She stopped in front of the house, only then remembering that she didn't know if the Danvers lived here on this planet. This could be some stranger's house.

And even if it wasn't—it was. Jeremiah and Eliza wouldn't know her here. Alex wouldn't know her. This would be so difficult.

She couldn't believe she would rather they didn't exist on this planet. That was horrible.

“You know, I think your landings could use some work,” Mon-El said. “Do you always almost crash like that and create craters? How have you gotten away with that for so long?”

“Very funny,” she said. “What were you thinking, coming here? Jeremiah and Eliza don't know you. They won't help you. And we have bigger, more important problems than—”

“Caitlin said the results from the tests would take hours, and I'm not part of the team looking for the others. That was you and Barry and everyone else. Not me or Caitlin,” Mon-El said. “And I told you that I thought they might be able to help Caitlin... or if we needed something like Medusa.”

“We are not using Medusa.”

“I didn't say we were, just that if we needed something like that, we could have their help,” Mon-El said. “Or is this jealousy because you listened in and heard how much they like talking to Caitlin?”

“They do?” Kara shook her head. “Do not do that to me, Mon-El. This isn't funny. We're on a planet that isn't ours, there are hostile aliens out there, and they have our friends. This isn't the time for jokes.”

“I wasn't kidding,” Mon-El said. “They have been going back and forth for hours in a way I so don't understand, but I think they have good ideas.”

“I can't believe you did this.”

He frowned. “I don't understand. What is so wrong about what I did?”

Kara sighed, about to explain, but her phone rang, and she dug it out of her pocket. “What?”

“Felicity and the team in Star City found Oliver and the others,” Barry told her. “There's one problem—they're in space.”

“Barry, even I'm not capable of breathing without an atmosphere. I can't go out and rescue them. We'd need a ship. Wait—the Waverider is a ship, right? So you've already told Sara's team and they're on their way, aren't they?”

“Yes,” Barry answered. “I'm about to head to Star City to bring Cisco and Felicity back, but I was told Mon-El and Caitlin are missing, and if you—”

“I know where they are,” Kara said, watching Caitlin come out onto the porch with Jeremiah and Eliza. “And... they may have found us more help.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team regroups after recovering Oliver and company. Work begins on new plans, and Mon-El gets a suit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a few changes to this section of the episode. There were some things in the Legends episode that to me that stood out as making no sense or being obvious plot devices. That would be Oliver telling Kara to sit it out and Ray going to the meeting with the president instead of helping with the nanotechnology.
> 
> I adjusted those things and one other one, and then I looked at the chapter and realized it was getting a bit long, so I broke it up here on a lighter note for a change.
> 
> Also, I think a couple picture references for costuming would help, so see the end note on that one.

* * *

“Let me get this straight. We've got Dominators moving toward the planet and a nearly completed weapon, and you want me to take a detour to pick up some civilian strangers? None of us have ever met them. We don't know that we can trust any of them,” Oliver said, shaking his head. Barry had to be insane to ask for this.

“According to Kara and Mon-El, they're her adoptive family on her earth, and while here they don't know her, they're still experts in their field. Caitlin was able to confirm that much for us, and I've been told that if we still have doubts, we should ask Gideon,” Barry said. Oliver frowned, but he looked over at Sara, who nodded. “I gotta say, Oliver, as much as I wasn't sure about the idea, Caitlin is the closest we've got to an expert in alien biology, and if she says she doesn't know how to overcome the Dominators on her own, I believe her. She says they can help. And I—”

“Believe her,” Oliver said. “I know.”

“I could go out there,” Barry began, and Oliver frowned, not sure why he hadn't already done it if he felt so strongly about this. “And I'd probably make it back before the meeting the president wants to have—”

“We'll get them. You just make sure the president knows what we're really up against,” Oliver said, turning back to Sara as he ended the call.

“Gideon already ran the names down. According to history, they're clean. Good people.”

“Why do I sense a 'but' coming?” 

Sara smiled. “It was worth it just to hear you say that. According to Gideon, they're experts in alien microbiology. Which depending on what we're about to do either makes them die in obscurity, ridiculed for being conspiracy nuts, or they're going to be the most in demand people in the universe when we fail.”

“Nice,” Oliver muttered. “How long til we get there?”

“Not long, but should be enough to get us a change of clothes,” Sara said. She smiled as she headed off the bridge. Oliver followed after her, not wanting to be in the clothes the Dominators had given them.

“Damn it.”

“What?”

“We lost all of our gear when they took us. We didn't find it,” Oliver said. He held up a hand. “I know your ship can fabricate just about anything. The other guy told us that when we got on board. I'm talking about Ray's damned suit.”

Sara winced. “He is always losing that thing. We're going to have to do something about that, though it's not like their technology will be advanced by it.”

“No, but they'll know exactly how to fight him in it.”

Sara winced. “Yeah, that is a problem. And no, I have no idea how to fix it.”

“We blow up their ship, not a problem, but since right now we have no idea how to do that and only one spaceship—”

“Timeship.”

“—to our name, we need some kind of alternative,” Oliver finished. He didn't know what the hell that was. He'd started this with a book of names, and it had seemed simple then—kill every name on the list. Save the world.

He'd never figured on fighting aliens. Ever.

“Good thing we're about to get more help,” Sara said, and he gave her a look, but she just smiled back at him.

* * *

“You better be right about trusting them,” Oliver said, and Kara grimaced. She already felt awkward enough around her family—who were not her family—but she wouldn't say trusting them could ever be a mistake. She hoped it never would be. Jeremiah and Eliza were good people. And Alex, too, even if she hadn't been there to recruit when Mon-El and Caitlin found the others.

“At home, I trust them with my life. With Mon-El's,” Kara said, and Oliver nodded. He crossed over to where Jeremiah and Eliza stood, uneasily watching the rest of them. She followed after him, wondering what he would do if he felt he couldn't trust them. Would he kill them to keep his secret? No, he was a hero, right?

“So you two are experts in alien biology,” Oliver said. “I'd ask you to prove that, but it would go right over my head.”

“It didn't go over mine,” Caitlin said. “Not completely, anyway. In fact, I think that I might be able to synthesize an anti-lead serum that should have about the effect of an epi pen for our friend. With their help, of course.”

Kara looked back at Mon-El. He gave her a bit of a smug smile, and she rolled her eyes. Okay, so she'd been wrong about him going to her family. “I really hope that's true, but we're going to need a lot more than that.”

“Exactly what are you expecting us to do?” Eliza asked. “Most of what we've studied so far is either theoretical or dismissed as useless. Even if you had samples from that meteorite to work with or more of the kind of blood work that Doctor Snow showed us, I'm not sure what you think we can do.”

“We're up against an alien army,” Oliver told her. “We're going to need a weapon.”

“Absolutely not,” Eliza said, and Jeremiah nodded with her. “That is not what we do, and we are not going to be a part of killing anyone.”

“Well, then we lose the planet to aliens, but I'm glad you kept your principles,” Oliver told her, shaking his head in frustration. Kara sighed. He hadn't even tried to work with them. She knew that Eliza and Jeremiah were good people, and he could have asked for their help in a better way.

“We don't need weapons,” Kara said. She caught their familiar disbelieving look and almost smiled. “It's true. As far as that goes, I kind of am one. What we do need is a way to understand what the Dominators are really capable of and a way to neutralize it. We're not actually asking for something that kills.”

“We're not sure how much of what they've done so far is technology and how much is actual physiology,” Caitlin said. “We know they've shown signs of communicating telepathically, and they were able to use mind-control as well as create elaborate dream worlds, a sort of shared hallucination. I haven't been able to determine if that technology was an extension of their natural abilities or not.”

“We hope it's not, but according to the legends, they were able to control minds in the past. Centuries ago,” Kara said. “If that's true...”

“I am still struggling to accept this. So far all we've seen and worked with is microorganisms,” Eliza said. “The idea that there is a whole race of aliens here, invading...”

“It seems impossible.”

“You're standing in the same room with two aliens,” Oliver said. “They're here. They're real, and we need a way to fight back against them, or we are going to lose our planet. If you can't help with that, then you can leave.”

“Two aliens?” Eliza asked, frowning. “I don't understand.”

“I'm one,” Kara said. “I might not look like it, and I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but I'm from another planet. Two, actually. Originally, I was from Krypton. And Mon-El is from Daxam, Krypton's sister planet.”

“You're both aliens?” Jeremiah repeated, struggling to believe it. “That is... I don't even know where to start.”

“Start by finding us a way to fight back against the Dominators,” Oliver ordered. “Fast.”

* * *

“We were on a spaceship,” Eliza said, shaking her head as she looked back at the Waverider. “I keep thinking I must be about to wake up and discover I have had some kind of crazy dream all this time.”

“Me, too, though I didn't think I had that much imagination,” Jeremiah said. He blinked as the camouflage activated and it disappeared from sight. “Wow. All of this—I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime.”

“I would have settled for a chance to study bacteria on that meteorite,” Eliza agreed. “Instead, we are working with living, breathing aliens against other aliens. This is just... unbelievable.”

Mon-El looked over at Kara. “You didn't have to tell them we were aliens.”

“Since when are you ashamed of being from Daxam?” Kara asked, frowning. “I thought you were proud of it. At least, you are every time we argue.”

“That's different. You're Kryptonian.”

“I think it has something to do with that suit that Jax and the professor tried to give him,” Thea said, grinning at him as Mon-El grimaced. He might not have been any kind of expert on fashion, but even his worst days on Daxam were better than that.

“Yeah, you are not wearing that,” Kara said, and he looked over at her with a frown. “It looks too much like what Non wore, and no. We're not going there.”

“Wait a minute,” Cisco said as he joined them. “Who exactly made you a costume? That's my job. Along with about fifty thousand other things, but costumes are my jam.”

“I told you it wasn't going to work,” Jax told Stein. “Gray here has the fashion sense of... well, an old man. We're just fortunate that I made our costume. I tried to fix the one he made for you, but he kept insisting he was right. As usual.”

“It was the most efficient design for protecting Mon-El against his allergy,” Stein said. “I don't see why that is such a problem, and as for your design on the Firestorm costume, let me tell you that I think it could use some improvement.”

The two of them started to argue. 

“Relax,” Cisco said, clapping Mon-El on the back. Then he stood there, staring into space, and Mon-El pulled away from him, uncomfortable. Cisco stepped back, shaking his head. “Whoa. That was intense.”

Mon-El frowned. He had barely even felt what Cisco did. How could that be intense? All it was to him was weird. Uncomfortable weird. 

“What just happened?”

“I just vibed off this guy big time,” Cisco said. “Which, by the way, you are so right about that mural. Hella creepy. Now I need a few minutes, and I'll be right back. And, seriously, burn that thing.”

Stein sighed. “It is not that bad.”

“It is,” Thea said. “Trust me, I know fashion, and that... is not fashion. You would look terrible in that, and considering that you look... well, hot out of it, we are so not ruining you with a bad costume.”

Mon-El shook his head. “I don't actually need a costume. I'm not a hero.”

“But you _do_ need protection from lead.”

“And no one said that can't be fashionable as well as functional,” Thea said. “Wait up, Cisco. I'm coming with you.”

“The fate of the world is at stake, and we're arguing about costumes,” Oliver said. “Now that is unbelievable.”

“I'll take the Doctors Danvers with me to get set up at the lab,” Caitlin told him. “I could also use your help, Professor Stein. And yours, Ray. I... I really don't think I can do this on my own.”

“Anything you need,” Ray said, giving her a smile.

* * *

“All right, people,” Oliver said. “What's our status?” 

“No sign of any activity since the Dominators paid their little visit to mess with our heads,” Barry reported. “No sightings, no attacks, no foreign tech. We haven't been able to locate them on satellite, even with that mothership headed toward earth.”

“Great,” Oliver muttered, and Barry couldn't blame him for the frustration. They were still so far behind the Dominators. They didn't know where they were, didn't know what they wanted, and didn't have a good way of defeating them. Not yet, anyway.

“Why would they do that? Mess with our heads the way they did?” Sara asked, frowning. “Mon-El over there said their experiments were more of the other kind. Like that book they made us read in high school.”

 _“Island of Doctor Moreau,”_ Barry said, and she nodded. “That doesn't mean that's all they did to the Kryptonians or the Daxamites.”

“It's just all we _do_ know because the Dominators did their best to keep the Kryptonian and Daxamites from keeping records of what actually happened,” Felicity said, grimacing. “At least here they didn't do that so we have the footage from the past to go on.”

Kara grimaced. “I should probably have double-checked the Fortress of Solitude. Maybe there was more information there.”

“You didn't want to go back because of Medusa,” Mon-El reminded her, and she nodded, swallowing with discomfort.

“Yeah,” she said. “I should have, though. Maybe that would have told us what we needed to know.”

“Or maybe nothing would. We don't know that they're at the same technological level or what they're actually doing here,” Mon-El said, and she tried to force a smile for him.

“If we assume that the mind-control was also an experiment, then it could have been about gathering intelligence about our abilities and their technology,” Barry said. “If they needed to test the range on that device or what we could do against it...”

“Metas pose the biggest threat to their invasion,” Kara said. “It would make sense they'd want to get to know their enemies.” 

“By kidnapping people,” Mon-El said, sounding like he'd been through that himself. Kara reached over to touch his arm. He gave her a look, but if she'd intended to comfort him, Barry didn't think it had worked. 

“They may have been looking for our vulnerabilities,” Barry said, reminded of the one alien's very dangerous one to lead. If they took him in the field, they had to have some way of counteracting that, protecting him.

Oliver nodded. “I think it's time we return the favor.” 

“What do you want to do?” Dig asked. “Kidnap one of them now?” 

Barry shook his head. “Ever since we fought off that one ship, they've kind of been in short supply.” 

“Actually, I know where to find one,” Nate said. “I've been reviewing old Army footage of their first encounters with the Dominators, and I think I pegged the fight to... Redmond, Oregon. 1951.”

“You're suggesting we travel to 1951, abduct a Dominator, and interrogate it to determine their intentions.” 

“They kidnapped us,” Sara said. “Seems fair.” 

“Whoa. Time travel,” Cisco said, coming back to the others with a bundle in his hands. “I'm definitely in.” 

Barry frowned. “Caitlin just recruited Ray and Professor Stein to help find a way to take down the Dominators. Even with the Danvers, they could probably use your help.”

“Pass,” Cisco said, holding the bundle out to Mon-El. Mon-El took it with a frown. “Not that I am saying you didn't find us some potentially excellent help, so kudos to you, but we're talking time travel, and I have got to go on that ship.”

“Yeah, I mean, I'm with him,” Felicity said. “Mostly 'cause I just don't want to lose my geek cred, but time travel.” 

“I could take Amaya and Mick,” Nate offered.

“Do it,” Oliver ordered.

“And, uh, the new president called,” Barry said, sounding awkward, “which would be cool under different circumstances, but she wants to meet with us.”

“I thought you already had that meeting.”

Barry winced. “She rescheduled.”

“Right.”

“If you need us, Mon-El and I can back you up,” Kara offered, getting a look from him. “They might need us, though I think if you are going to use that costume, we should train while you're wearing it.”

“No one ever said I was—”

“You're not dying to lead, not on my watch,” Oliver told him. “Learn to use the damned suit.”

* * *

“Professor?” Caitlin asked, coming over to him and Ray. She'd gotten the Danvers settled into her part of the lab, giving them some of what she had on Mon-El to analyze while they waited for actual readings from the Dominators. She swore they were in heaven, with that information and the technology in their hands. She knew that she had to get back to them, since they were still strangers. Nice as they were, as much as she wanted to trust them, she thought part of the others' paranoia was rubbing off on her. Someone had to be there to keep an eye on them that understood what they were doing. That was her, much as she wanted to give that role to Joe. 

“It's highly unlikely we can fashion a weapon with sufficient force to overcome the Dominators,” Stein said, distracted by the calculations he was doing. 

“I was thinking the exact same thing,” Caitlin said, “which is why I invited—” 

“So what if, instead, we try to attack them with something infinitesimally small?” Stein went on, not looking at her or Ray, who had rolled his eyes. “I'm... I'm sure you're familiar with the story of the lion with the thorn in his paw.” 

“You used to love telling me that story when I was a kid,” Lily said, and Stein turned around abruptly. Ray frowned, looking confused. 

“Oh.” Stein said, sounding strange. “Hello.” 

Lily smiled. “The lion with the thorn in his paw is a parable, a story about a big, ferocious creature that is felled by something small. So what do you need help with?” 

“Uh, I'm afraid it's...” Stein fumbled. “It's classified.” 

“Oh, juicy,” she said, grinning at him. “Some sort of secret government space weapon, no doubt.” 

“Something like that,” Stein agreed, “only this sort of work is slightly out of my wheelhouse.”

“Yeah, if only you knew someone with a PhD in nanotechnology,” she went on, teasing him.

“That would be me,” Ray managed to say, getting her attention for the first time. He smiled at her. “Hi. Ray Palmer.”

“I know,” she said, frowning slightly. “You... don't remember me?” 

“I... I may have... well, my memories are a little confused after my last mission,” he said, looking from Stein to Caitlin for help. She frowned, not understanding what was going on. She was sure he'd met Stein's daughter before, though it hadn't been for very long.

“Oh, well,” she said, holding out a hand. “Lily Stein.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Ray told her. “Um... again. Sorry about that.”

She shook her head. “Not a problem. I'd have liked to be more memorable, but with the work you do, it might be a wonder that doesn't happen more often. I worry about Dad so much when he's gone, though I know he's doing great things.”

Ray nodded, casting a look toward Stein, who gave him one in return that promised an explanation later. “So... Caitlin brought you to help.”

“Yes,” Lily said. “Or... Did the six years I spent at MIT magically slip your mind?”

Stein shook his head, forcing a smile. “Of course not.” 

“Good,” she said with a smile of her own. 

“I'll leave you all to it,” Caitlin said. “I've got to get back to the Danvers.”

“Okay. Let's get to work.”

* * *

“This... is utterly humiliating,” Mon-El said, pulling on the fabric in disgust. “I look ridiculous.”

“I think it looks great,” Kara told him, and he glared at her. She wanted to laugh, but she knew that would be the wrong thing to do. His discomfort was absolutely adorable, and when she was alone, she was going to laugh her head off—she was so telling this to Alex and sharing this with her sister, but if she laughed now, they would never get Mon-El into another suit. “I'm not kidding. You look fine.”

“And I would really believe that from you or your cousin. I've seen what he fights crime in.”

“It used to have red underwear on the outside,” she said. “This is definitely better than that.”

Mon-El stared at her. “Your cousin used to wear underwear outside his super suit? You are joking, aren't you?”

She shook her head. “No, I'm not. Clark and his human father took inspiration from old time wrestlers for his original suit. They used to wear outfits like that. And for many years, Clark refused to change it because of his father's memory. I think at times he still regrets it.”

“He shouldn't,” Mon-El said, once again grimacing as he tried to adjust the suit. “This can't possibly be that protective.”

“Mine is.”

Mon-El gave her a look, full of doubt. She gave him a smile. She had to admit, she'd looked forward to this day. She had wanted it more than she would have thought or admitted it to anyone. Having Mon-El here was one thing, but having him in costume, ready to fight?

He was so close to being the hero he kept insisting that he wasn't.

“I can't do this.”

“Yes, you can,” Kara insisted. She came around and faced him. “You've been doing this without a costume—a suit—and you do just fine. You're a good person underneath under all of that Daxamite posing, and this suit is not—it doesn't change anything. It doesn't change you. Remember, you were willing to fight before without it.”

“Yeah, but—”

“You could have died. You could have been hit by a bullet or by some other stray piece of lead, and you knew it. You knew, and you fought anyway, and it is heroic,” she said, putting her hands on his face. “This is not about the suit. This is about you.”

Mon-El swallowed. “Kara, I am not a hero, and this suit just proves that and I—”

“Okay, I admit, it should have a cape,” she said, moving her hands down to his shoulders. She could see one like Clark's on him and she liked it, though she'd make Mon-El's blue. “That would make you look regal as well as heroic, but this? It's very you. Almost understated, which goes with your reluctance to be or call yourself a hero, but then this band here... that shows that you're not. And it's so much better than just a bland black suit like my aunt and uncle wore.”

“He did this because he somehow saw the mural,” Mon-El said, running his fingers over the suit. “It's not the same, not like Valor's, but if he had put a cape on it, it almost would be. Though it could be worse if he'd gone for the full look and not just this strip of color...”

“I like it,” she said. “And all of your little alien groupies back on our earth? They would love it. You'd probably have your own fan club.”

“In this? No.”

“Wait until the others are back. The women, at least. They'll change your mind.”

Mon-El frowned. “Are you actually telling me that this suit makes me more attractive? Is that what you think?”

“Yes,” Kara said. Then she shook her head. “No. I mean—I think other people would—it's not—we should be training.”

“Uh huh,” Mon-El said. “Sure. That's all it ever is with you. Training.”

“I can still knock you into a building five blocks away.”

“You think so? Even in my new super suit?” Mon-El teased. “Okay, then. Prove it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I think that Mon-El should have something that's not as closely tied to Superman's costume as it was in the comics. Not that I dislike the red/blue number he has, but I don't think it suits the Mon-El we have on the show. I was thinking something closer to the costume worn by Nightwing (no, not Discowing, hell no) kind of like this: 
> 
> http://pm1.narvii.com/5799/0e0e5c95c761c0525edd40299f00e1119b7dc69a_hq.jpg
> 
> That seemed a nice way of updating the costume from the comics while still paying a bit of homage to this look: http://www.toyark.com/attachments/1793d1249003346-me2.jpg
> 
> And toning it down just a little. So I think maybe it would have a red streak like this Valor look, though not as much red as that does, minus the gold accents, the utility belt, and the stars on the black. Then if he did have a cape, it would be blue.
> 
> If I could draw, I'd make it myself, but I can't. I just hope that helps show what I had in mind.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mon-El tests the serum, Ray and Stein discuss his daughter, and the Dominators send a government patsy to give their demands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I think that the other story would have to branch off after the tests of the serum are done. That would be the point at which I'd have an AU of an AU. Right. Head hurts now.
> 
> Anyway, I left the section in 1951 alone. I didn't feel that I could add much of anything to that. I did alter the scene with the agent a little to have a good end to the chapter and bring things back together a little from my side excursions. Though... admittedly, there is a very silly one I keep getting tempted to make ever since I made what I thought was a minor change, but I haven't done it yet.

* * *

“I can see that the two of you have been busy,” Caitlin said, looking around the warehouse. If Barry cared at all about money, he would probably would be having a fit about now, looking at the state of his property. She didn't think she wanted to know how half of this damage had gotten here. “Mon-El? Kara? Are you around... somewhere?”

Caitlin swallowed, hoping that she hadn't been wrong about the source of the wreckage. She'd thought it had to be the two aliens since it looked like the same kind of impact and scarring from their earlier encounter, but then again, that wasn't Caitlin's usual field of expertise.

Something jumped down in front of her, and she stepped back, spooked until she realized that this was what passed for a costume on Mon-El. Not that it was bad—it wasn't—but she had been expecting something more like Supergirl's.

“Caitlin,” Mon-El said with a smile. “I'm told I'm supposed to ask the women of the team what they think, so... what do you think?”

“Of?”

“This,” he said, gesturing to his suit. “I told Kara it was... ridiculous, but she said that women would like it. Is she lying? I didn't see the crinkle, but she also said that she didn't like it, and she's a woman, so...”

Caitlin almost laughed. She thought she knew why Kara would deny the appeal of the suit. She almost wished Thea or Iris was there to comment on it, though. “I think it looks good.”

He smiled at her. She smiled back, and then he moved, grabbing hold of her and carrying her out of the way as Supergirl landed hard where he'd been standing. He let her go, and Caitlin straightened herself up.

“Not bad,” Kara said. “You're getting better at that.”

“You're very predictable,” he told her, and she frowned. He turned to Caitlin. “And before she says it, yes, I was showing off, and no, she wouldn't have actually hit you even if she seems to land like she's crashing every time.”

Caitlin nodded. She hadn't really felt like she was in any real danger, even if Mon-El wasn't half as fast as Barry. “I'm sure.”

“Is anything wrong?” Kara asked. “How are Jeremiah and Eliza? Are they doing okay? Should we have left them—”

“They are doing just fine,” Caitlin said. “That's why I'm here, actually. Between the three of us, we came up with what we hope is that anti-lead serum, and we think we may be ready to test it. For that, though, we need you.”

Mon-El nodded. “Right. More tests.”

“Wally would so agree with your sentiment,” Caitlin said. He wasn't alone in that, either. “And... I will need to expose you to lead again to test it.”

“You can't do it any other way?” Kara asked, frowning. She touched his arm, looking worried. 

Caitlin shook her head. “I used the samples I already had to create the serum. And even if I hadn't, I couldn't even administer the serum without using lead. He's invulnerable until I do. So, no, I can't. If you're not willing to risk it, Mon-El—”

“No, I am,” Mon-El said. He looked at Kara and smiled. “I'll be fine. I'll even let her drive me if she wants.”

“I don't mind giving your speed another test,” Caitlin told him. “Did Cisco install the standard bio-monitoring equipment on your suit? If he didn't, we should, and though it's probably going to need calibration for your Daxamite physiology and—”

“More tests,” Mon-El muttered. “Great.”

* * *

“Hey, Dad?” Lily asked, but Stein didn't seem to hear her. “Dad.” 

“What?” Stein said, grimacing when he lifted his head. “Oh, I'm sorry.” 

Ray frowned. He couldn't help noticing the distraction in his colleague, but it was more than that, much more. He wasn't that close to Stein, but he hadn't known the man to ever have a daughter. He was starting to think that Stein didn't know her, either.

“Can you hand me those induction clamps?” 

“Yes,” Stein said, shaking his head a bit as he passed her the tool she asked for. 

“You know, this reminds me of that time we stayed up all night building my seventh grade science project,” Lily asked, smiling at him. “Remember how mad Mom got when she found out you let me drink coffee to stay awake?” 

“No,” Stein said, and she frowned, looking hurt. “I mean, no, no, I should never... never have let you do that.”

Ray was sure of it. Lily, brilliant, funny, Lily, was a stranger to him. It made sense that she would be a stranger to Ray who had not had much interaction with Team Flash in the past, but to Stein? No. The man should remember his own daughter, and he didn't. Was this related to Flashpoint?

It couldn't be. No one but Barry remembered what Flashpoint had changed. Stein should know his daughter if she'd been created by that event, even if they were out of time.

Oh, no.

Lily was an aberration.

“Uh, I'm sorry,” Stein said, getting up from his seat. “Will you excuse me?” 

“Are you okay, Dad?” 

“I'm just preoccupied with my work, that's all,” Stein said, trying to reassure here, but that didn't work, and Ray could already see it.

“The last mission... kind of took a toll on all of us,” Ray told her, touching her back. She gave him a small smile. “You're onto something here, and I can't wait to get back to it. If you'll just give us a minute, we'll get back to work.”

She nodded. “Of course.”

He started to follow Stein, but she caught his arm. “Ray, my father... he is okay, isn't he?”

“Oh, yes, I swear he is,” Ray assured her. “Trust me, this is going to be okay.”

She gave him another smile. He didn't know that she actually believed him, and he was lying. Something was bothering Stein, and it was big. The kind of big that was horrible. They had to discuss this, make some sort of plan.

He caught up with Stein in the hall. “You know, you're really taking this whole absent-minded professor thing to a new level. Except... that's not what this is, is it?” 

“No,” Stein said, sounding pained. 

“Your daughter is an aberration.” 

“Yes,” Stein agreed. “She is. When I interacted with my younger self back in 1987, I must have... unwittingly motivated him—me—to sire a child. So it's because of my carelessness that this time aberration exists.” 

Ray looked back at the other room. “Can we actually say that? She's a person. A person can't be an aberration. You... aren't actually advocating going back in time to erase her, are you?”

“Isn't that what we agreed to do?” Stein asked. “She's not even a real person.”

Ray looked back at Lily. “She seems real to me.”

* * *

Kara winced, wanting to look away as Caitlin applied the lead to Mon-El's skin. He didn't react at first, but then she stuck the needle in his arm, and he hissed in pain. Kara wished he didn't have to do this. He shouldn't have to poison himself just to save himself. This was wrong.

Eliza touched her arm. “He is going to be okay.”

Kara shook her head, not sure why that was so hard to believe. “I just... It shouldn't be like this. We're hurting him. I know it's supposed to be helping him, but it just seems wrong.”

Eliza nodded. “I admit, I'm not entirely comfortable with it myself, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be done. Your friend's allergy could be very dangerous. This world is full of things that are poison to him. Speaking as a parent, if they told me that exposing my allergic child to the thing I feared the most might save her life—”

“We'd do it,” Jeremiah agreed. “We'd be terrified, but we'd take the chance if it could save her forever, end the constant fear of losing her.”

“Is... Alex allergic on this planet?”

Eliza just smiled, leaving Kara to frown, again. Mon-El jerked on the table, yanking against the restraints but unable to rip them off like he would have if he wasn't affected by the lead.

“He's seizing,” Caitlin said, and the monitors started screaming, making Kara want to break them all, pick him up, and fly him somewhere he could be safe.

“How much lead did you give him?” Kara demanded, rushing over to his side. “He wasn't this bad when Cadmus shot him. You're killing him.”

“Kara, calm down,” Caitlin said. “According to my other tests, this dose should not have been this severe. Which is worrisome in the fact that it looks like the lead may have a cumulative effect on him, but we haven't actually given him the serum yet.” 

Kara stared at her. Why not? Why hadn't that happened the second he started to react? “Do it. Now. You can't let him—”

“I won't,” Caitlin said, giving Mon-El a second injection. “I'd freeze him—put him in a sort of cryogenic state—before I'd let that happen, I swear.”

“You'd risk using your powers. The ones you fear,” Kara said, and Caitlin nodded.

“Fortunately, that is not necessary,” Caitlin went on. “I had to allow him time to feel the lead in his system and give him enough to cause a reaction. Like I said, it was more severe than I thought, but these scans... Kara, it's working. The serum is neutralizing the lead.”

Kara let out a breath in relief. She took Mon-El's hand. “It's okay. It's going to be okay.”

He didn't open his eyes, but she saw Eliza and Jeremiah exchanging a look.

“Thank you. I know you were part of making this possible,” Kara said, grateful to them all over again. She owed everyone here. For the suit, for the serum, for making Mon-El safe. She never wanted to be in that position Cadmus had put her in again.

She was not losing Mon-El.

“He'll need some time to rest and recover from the strain this put on his body,” Caitlin said, biting her lip. “Overall, though, the results... they're encouraging. I think I'd like to improve the formula and do more tests, but this... this could save his life. Potentially. It would depend on the exposure and if there is a cumulative effect or not.”

Kara nodded. “I cannot thank you enough for this. Really.”

* * *

“We're trying to help you,” Barry said, stopping in front of the agent's face in anger. Oliver would have punched him. He was already pissed off. He'd had enough of that line, and he refused to go down the route of another clandestine agency. These people were not calling his shots. “This is how you thank us?” 

“You don't understand,” the agent began. “The reason the xenomorphs are here—” 

“Because they have a beef with the meta-humans,” Sara said. “Tell us something we don't already know.” 

“Like what exactly have we done to them?” Barry asked. 

“Nothing,” the agent answered. “Yet. But they see individuals with powers such as yours as a future threat, and, frankly, so do I.”

Oliver didn't love the idea of people with abilities like Barry's, though he'd learned to fight them, and he accepted Barry, even sometimes wanted to ask for his help a lot more often than he did. He didn't like that, either, but sometimes they could use someone with his speed.

“If you're such BFFs with the Dominators,” Sara began, getting close to the agent's face, “Then why don't you call them off?” 

Dig nodded. “We know you sent them packing once before, back in 1951.” 

“That was just a reconnaissance mission,” the agent disagreed, dismissing that. Then again, Oliver wasn't so sure he was wrong about that. A small, intelligence gathering force could be beaten back. That wasn't the same as an invasion. The island had taught him that. 

“What brought them back?” Barry asked. 

“You did, Mr. Allen.” 

Everyone tensed. That was not good. Barry's identity was not a perfect secret, but having a shady government agent know it set off every warning bell in Oliver's body. 

“He knows who you are.” 

“You threatened the entire universe when you used your powers to upset the normal course of time,” the agent went on, surprising them again. 

“You're talking about Flashpoint?” Barry asked, frowning. “How do you even know about—”

“They told us.” 

Great. The aliens must have gotten that out of their little trip in the dream world. Damn it.

“I made a mistake, okay?” Barry said. “I'm not gonna let it happen again.” 

“For the past sixty years, we have enjoyed a truce with your so-called Dominators,” the agent went on like he hadn't even spoken. “You broke the truce.” 

Oliver heard a snort from behind him, and he would have said it was Sara or even Thea, but he knew it wasn't. He'd heard it. Not quite the same sound as when Barry zipped around with his speed, but someone else was here. 

“The Dominators don't do truces. You win or you lose, that is how it works,” Oliver said, knowing that at least two of their allies would agree with that. This guy didn't know what he was really dealing with. They didn't, either, but they were a lot closer than the man in the suit.

Barry kept his eyes on the agent. “What do they want?” 

“I've negotiated a deal with them,” the agent said. “If Mr. Allen surrenders himself, they will leave us in peace.”

“What?” Thea asked. “You can't be serious. That's not even an option.” 

The agent ignored her, focused on Barry, twisting the knife in deeper, using something Barry was sure to fall for, given the man he was. “You really want to save the world? Here's your chance.”

“Get out of here,” a voice said from behind them, and Oliver wasn't the only one who looked back. The aliens were there—not the Dominators, but a certain Kryptonian and Daxamite, one of which looked like he'd been through hell.

“This is the only option,” the agent insisted. “They will leave us alone if—”

“No,” the Daxamite said, and Oliver already knew he agreed with their expert on the matter. “They won't. You sold out your planet for nothing.”

“This is a chance to end this conflict without losing more lives.”

“Except you want to end Barry's,” Thea reminded him, angry. “His life still matters. All life matters.”

Dig nodded. “I get the feeling metahumans aren't human to this guy.”

“They're not,” Oliver agreed, pulling out another arrow and lining it up. “No deal. Go. Get in your car and tell the aliens where they can shove it.”

* * *

“Guys,” Barry said, eyes on the car driving away from the warehouse, “if the Dominators want me, I can go. I should. It will—”

“Give the Dominators exactly what they want,” Mon-El told him. “This is how it starts. Granted, with us, they said they wanted to meet with our greatest general and then slaughtered the army and the ruling house, but sure, trust them. What do I know?”

“Barry, please listen to Mon-El,” Kara said, biting her lip. “He insisted on coming back here despite the test Caitlin did, and that could have killed him. He's stubborn, but he's not wrong.”

Barry shook his head. He didn't see how they could do anything else. He'd done this. He'd created Flashpoint, he'd ruined lives, and now it was time to pay for that. This was his way of atoning for everything he'd done wrong.

“I should have told you about the first part of the legend sooner,” Mon-El said, putting a hand to his head. “I didn't think it applied, but then when Kara said she wanted to see how your meeting with the president went, I remembered what the Dominators had done to the ruling house.”

“We know they're interested in metahumans,” Sara reminded them. “We all said it was because they're the greatest threat. We hand over them, we may as well give up every weapon we have. Frankly, I'm not willing to do that.”

“None of us are,” Oliver said. “This is not over. The Waverider is still out there. They were going to get us a Dominator to study. We can find a weakness. We do not have to hand ourselves over to them. We won't.”

“It's just me we're talking about handing over,” Barry reminded him. “I'm one person. There's already another speedster. Wally needs training, but he's got potential. And heart. If something happened to me, there would be—”

“No,” Oliver said. “We don't know that their demands would end with you.”

“I bet he'd just be the beginning,” Dig said. “Yeah, you can alter time, but Cisco can go to other dimensions. They'll want him dead, too.”

“And Firestorm,” Sara added. “Like they want a flying, fire-throwing, matter transmuting metahuman out there. That's two more lives.”

“And Caitlin,” Kara added. “It wouldn't matter that she's scared of her powers and doesn't want to use them. This would be like Cadmus. They want to kill all aliens just because they're aliens. The Dominators—and that agent—want metas dead just because of what they are.”

“Anyone who is a threat against the Dominators has to be eliminated,” Mon-El agreed. “I'm sorry, Barry. Your sacrifice wouldn't mean anything. It's not worth being noble. I don't know that it ever is, but this time, it definitely isn't.”

“It looks good on you, though,” Thea said, eying him with appreciation. “That is a very nice suit, if I do say so myself. Hugs you in all the right places and definitely shows off your assets.”

“Thea!”

“Like we couldn't use a bit of a break from the doom and gloom,” she said. “We all agree that we're not letting Barry do this, right?”

Barry grimaced. This wasn't a group decision. It wasn't one Oliver was making for them, either. It was his. He was going to do this. He would make sure he saved the world. “And what happens if we don't? Can we actually live with ourselves if we don't go through with it?”

“Barry—”

“I can't. I'm giving myself to the Dominators.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Plans are made. A name is uncovered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I realize now that if I was doing a full fix, I'd have gone back and made a lot more changes. I'd have included Barry and Cisco in the Medusa events, I'd have carried through with scenes from minor team members to show what they were up to that wasn't on screen, I'd give relevant plotlines to others, and I'd pull in some of the other characters I mentioned. I'd fix every scene, not just some.
> 
> I'm clearly not that good a person. I couldn't do it. I'm just saying... it should have been done.
> 
> And... I so messed with the timeline. Unlike Barry, I am not sorry. I wanted to make sure they had time to counter a few things that they didn't even bother to address on the show. That, and I've been trying to work the hero-naming of Mon-El in for almost the entire fic, and it had to happen before the battle.

* * *

“You could sit on him.”

Kara frowned, looking over at Mon-El with a frown. “What are you talking about?”

“Your friend?” Mon-El said, nodding to Barry. “None of you want to turn him over, we all know it's a bad idea, but you can stop him. He might be fast, but you're close enough, and you're definitely stronger. Just... you know, sit on him until he comes to his senses.”

Kara stared at him, tempted to laugh. She shouldn't, she knew that, but the idea of sitting on Barry to keep him here was so ridiculous she almost did. She thought she heard someone snort, too. “I am not going to sit on him.”

“Talk about a missed opportunity,” Mon-El said, and she reached over to hit him.

“Barry, a word,” Oliver said, taking hold of his arm and dragging him to the side. Kara hoped that he would be able to talk sense into him. Barry did value Oliver's opinion, and everyone had agreed upon him as leader, though she didn't know if that would be enough.

“So,” Sara said, watching the others. “We're going to need another plan. Anyone going to volunteer to make one?”

“Aren't you the leader of Team Legends?” Thea asked, and Mon-El winced. “What did I say? It's pretentious, but catchy.”

“No, it's more that I was trying to listen to Barry and Oliver, and you are way too close and too near right now,” Mon-El said with a wince. Kara looked at him. “What, I'm not allowed to practice that one? It's not like you haven't used it to spy on me.”

“And regretted every second of it,” Kara said, still not wanting to think about where she'd caught him with Eve and what they'd been doing when she walked in. 

“You can hear them?” Thea asked. “Cool. Wait, you two had this ability all along and we're just hearing about it now?”

“It hasn't really been relevant before,” Kara said. She hadn't had any need to use her super hearing since she came, except for that time she went looking for Barry, and that was only a couple seconds, tops. “We haven't needed it.”

“Right,” Thea said. She turned to Mon-El. “So what was Oliver saying? Was it a good speech or was he threatening violence?”

“Uh, Thea,” Kara began. “I really don't think it's any of our business what Oliver is saying to Barry. We know he's trying to talk Barry out of surrendering himself. There really isn't anything else to know.”

“Says you,” Thea muttered. She looped her arm in Mon-El's, “I already know you feel differently, so how's about you tell me all about what my big brother is telling the sweet but tragically noble Flash?”

“Um, okay,” Mon-El said, letting Thea pull him away.

Kara frowned. What was he doing? He knew better than that, and he should be resting. He had just been exposed to a dangerous amount of lead, and he needed to recover. “Mon-El—”

“He'll be fine,” Sara told her, and Kara shook her head. “Or is that what you're worried about?”

“Excuse me?”

Sara grinned, about to say something when the Waverider reappeared in front of them. “Looks like our friends are back. Let's see what they brought us.”

Kara followed after her, hoping that maybe they would have what they needed to stop the Dominators now. Then again, they might want to experiment on him, and she was not sure she could be any part of that. Understanding their enemy was one thing, but torture? She couldn't do that. She couldn't let them do that, either.

“All right, people. Where is our alien?” Sara asked. “I mean, besides this one.”

Cisco and the others exchanged a look. “Uh... about that...”

* * *

“Where do we stand?” Oliver asked as he came up to the others. “Is our new friend over with the Danvers or what?”

“No, and it gets worse from there,” Sara told him. He frowned. Cisco winced. “Our friends here decided rescuing a Dominator from the government was the right thing to do. Instead of bringing him to us, they set him free.”

“So, what? We were just hoping they'd give up on the invasion if we were nice to them?” Oliver demanded. “Somehow I don't think that worked.”

“No, it definitely didn't,” Cisco said, shaking his head. “We did the right thing, and we got screwed for it. They're still going to kill us. Well, they claim they won't kill us if Barry surrenders himself, but they're lying. They've got ships all over the planet.”

“What?” Oliver demanded. He knew he was trying to talk Barry out of being an idiot, but they should have interrupted him. This was too important to ignore even for a minute.

“It could be a scare tactic,” Sara said. “Or it's the first step in a full-fledged invasion.”

“We have to stop it.”

“Which is why we're giving me to the Dominators,” Barry said. “This isn't up for debate. It's not even a close call. I mean... Turn myself over to the Dominators, they leave the rest of the world alone. Simple.” 

“No, it's not simple,” Oliver said, not sure why he had to have this argument again or why Barry couldn't get it through his head. 

“Barry, it doesn't matter what you've done. You can't do this.” 

“It's been an honor to know all of you, to fight alongside of you,” Barry said. “Now it's up to you to keep our home safe.” 

Oliver shook his head. “I'm not letting you leave.” 

Barry smiled slightly. “No offense, Oliver, but you and what army?” 

“This one,” Kara said, and Barry started to frowned, looking at the whole group of them. Oliver knew he wasn't the only one who would fight to keep Barry where he was, and with the help of one if not two of them, he'd be able to do it, no matter how fast Barry was.

“Listen, Red,” Heatwave said. “I don't like you. But when you got a crew, you don't take a hit for the rest. Besides... Skirt over there is going to sit on you and make you stay.”

“What?”

“Long story,” Kara said, looking at Mon-El and Thea, neither of whom looked the slightest bit innocent. Oliver frowned at his sister, but Thea just shrugged, moving closer to the alien.

“That was actually pretty inspiring. I mean, up until—” 

“You're missing the point,” Oliver said. “None of us are letting you do this. The Dominators won't stop with you.”

“Metas are their enemy,” Sara said. “Criminals at best, and at worst...”

“Sometimes we do the wrong thing trying to do the right thing,” Kara said. “We're not perfect.”

“Maybe we do more harm than good,” Nate said, “but this is our chance to find out.” 

“We're not letting you sacrifice yourself,” Cisco said, and Oliver figured this was the tipping point. If Cisco wanted Barry to stay, then he would. Oliver knew that was what he needed to hear—what he needed. Forgiveness. “There's no way. I don't care if that's what it means to be a hero. You're not a hero to me.” 

Or not. Barry stared at Cisco, wounded all over again.

“You're my friend,” Cisco finished, and Barry smiled. Good. Now Oliver didn't have to put an arrow in Team Flash's tech support.

“Now that we've got that settled,” Oliver said. “Time to make a plan.”

* * *

“There are a lot of ships over the planet right now,” Dig said, frowning at the screens. Barry didn't blame him. He still thought maybe they should go ahead with turning him over to the enemy. That might be the only way to save the world. “Are we sure that we have time to make a plan? Or do we need to go buy time to have a plan?”

“Debatable,” Oliver said, making almost everyone grimace. “That agent didn't give us a deadline for turning over Barry, but we also told him already that we wouldn't. And since Cisco made contact with them, they probably think that we're not planning on going through with it.”

“Which we're not,” Kara said, giving Barry another pointed look. Thea whispered something to Mon-El, and he snorted until Kara glared at him. “We are definitely _not_ doing that.”

“We might need to make them _think_ we are,” Oliver countered, getting frowns from everyone. “I'm not saying we are, but if we contact the Dominators again, tell them that Barry will be surrendered once he's had time to say goodbye to his friends and family—buy as much time as we can—ask for two days, see if we manage to get hours out of it—and go from there.”

“And if they won't give us any time at all?” Thea asked. “What then?”

“We're screwed,” Heatwave said.

“Nice,” Sara muttered. “Good to know we can count on you to keep morale high.”

“Look, the Dominators have superior technology and numbers. We know that,” Oliver went on. “We're going to need a way to counter that. It won't mean anything if we go in to fight them and they can mind control us or beam us up to their ships again. And as much as I hate to admit it, a bow isn't very effective against them. How are we coming on a weapon against the Dominators?”

“Doctor Palmer and I were able to create a small device that, when placed on individual Dominators, will cause indescribable agony,” Stein said, getting a nod from Ray. “Not the nicest invention, but this is war.” 

“Nice going,” Oliver said, and Stein forced a smile, clearly uncomfortable.

“The caveat, of course, is that if we activate the weapons before all the devices are placed on the Dominators, they'll know what we're up to,” Stein said. “It would have to be done fast.”

“I can handle that,” Barry said, looking over at Kara. She was also fast, and depending on how much time they bartered from the Dominators, Wally might be on his feet again and there was Mon-El as well. “And if I need help, I know I've got it.”

“It's a start,” Oliver told him. “Sara, we're going to need someone on the Waverider in case they do launch the metabomb.”

“I'll do it. I'm the best pilot we've got right now.”

“And if all of that works, we're still going to need a distraction and a way to gather a large Dominator force in one place,” Oliver went on, eyes still on the map. “Not sure I want to assume they'll just come to us, though it's likely.”

“They're going to come where we arrange to turn me over,” Barry said. “And they'll come in force, won't they, Mon-El?”

The alien frowned. “Why are you asking me?”

“You said that they arranged a meeting with leaders on Daxam. That they killed them,” Barry said. “If we make it look like that's what they're getting here, they'll come for us, won't they?”

Mon-El nodded. “That is what they've done before.”

Oliver watched him, suspicious. “What aren't you saying?”

“You act like one battle will decide the war,” Mon-El said. “In case you missed it—you lost. Twice. They got mind-controlled and you got taken. Now it's possible you can fight them off with this device you've made, but it took years of long, bloody battles to beat them back from Daxam. Valor had no choice but to lead the mutated against them, use the monsters they created to fight them.”

“And here I thought,” Heatwave said, “I was the voice of doom and gloom around here.”

* * *

“What Mon-El is saying,” Kara said, putting a hand on his arm, “is that this may take longer than we're hoping for, but we are still not giving up. This is your planet, and we will not let them take it. We have trained heroes, and not all of them are metahumans.”

Mon-El looked at her. He knew he must sound like he was advocating surrender, turning Barry over to the Dominators—and he wasn't. He didn't want them to have what they wanted. He just didn't want to live through the legends.

“We are going to fight, and we're not going to stop until they're gone,” Oliver said. “We already have an advantage here.”

“We do?”

Oliver nodded. “We have you. You and your legends. We know more about them than they think we do.”

“You don't think they learned all about Mon-El and Kara from their little mind probe while you were on their ship?”

“If they did, do you honestly think that Barry would be their only demand?” Oliver asked. “Why not Supergirl?”

“It's not like they'd spare her even if she's not from this universe,” Mon-El said. “At least... not the Dominators of lore.”

“And Cisco is in many ways more dangerous than Barry is, since he can go to other universes and bring in as many heroes as we want to ask,” Thea said. “What's to stop us from getting more help?”

“Could ask Jessie and Harry,” Cisco said. “Or more people from Kara's world. They mentioned a martian. We could totally have a martian at our side. Or Kara's cousin who is just as powerful as she is. Dude, that would be awesome.”

“They do have a metabomb they'll use on everyone.”

“I am, but our ugly friend didn't realize I could vibe until I was on board their ship trying to negotiate,” Cisco said. “They still don't know all I can do. I could organize a superhero party to make this seem like a clubhouse meeting. We can speed up Valor's war, do what took him years in days. Hours, maybe.”

“And with the access and understanding of the Dominator tech that we got after your escape,” Felicity began, “we can so counter the mind-control. And the teleporters.”

“You don't even have to go to other worlds to get more help,” Dig said. “Pull Oliver's team from Star City. More bodies, more minds.”

“And Stein's daughter could help with the tech just like the Danvers are trying to help with Dominator physiology,” Ray said.

“Wherever he is, I think Roy would help if we could find him,” Thea added.

“Carter and Kendra, too.”

“Not that I was a fan of Amanda Waller's—”

“Dig, we are not creating our own suicide squad,” Oliver said. “I don't care how effective those metas could be against the Dominators. It's not happening.” 

“I could so make something for that,” Cisco said, nodding, and everyone looked at him. “I didn't say I would. Just that I _could.”_

“Concentrate on making it so we won't get beamed up or whammied,” Oliver said. Then he grimaced. “I can't believe I just said that.”

“I recorded it for you if you want to hear it,” Felicity told him, and he gave her a very thin smile. “Or not. Well, let's get to work. Um, Barry—or Kara—can someone get me Curtis? Please?”

* * *

“I'm surprised they didn't send you on a retrieval mission.”

Mon-El shrugged. He wasn't. He was also glad he wasn't. He didn't want to go find anyone, even if it meant having more people to help fight the Dominators. “I think they're afraid I'll get lost. I... I actually haven't seen much outside of National City. At least, not on my earth.”

“So you're saying I shouldn't have trusted you to take me to the Danvers?” Caitlin asked, and Mon-El smiled at her, getting a smile back. “I think you have just enough charm to be dangerous.”

“I asked Kara if that was a power I'd gotten on her planet, and she said no, but I watch the way that the humans there look at her, how they're inspired by her, how I am—and I think she's wrong,” Mon-El said. “Though... I think you could prove it. You'd prove her right.”

Caitlin frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You're not planning on fighting with them,” he said. “Even if I tell you I think you could.”

She bit her lip. “If I lost control again... I don't think I could live with myself. I wouldn't even be myself. I'd be her. A killer.”

Mon-El shook his head. “If there is anything I've learned from Kara, it's that we are who we choose to be. They assumed I was a killer because of where I came from. I was from Daxam, so I must be evil. I'm... I'm not like Kara. I'm not noble, not a hero. I'm selfish, and I don't want powers. I didn't want to use them for other people. Just me. And while I hate the look on her face when I disappoint her... I am the one who had to choose to go up against the Parasite, who caught a car and kept it from hitting a little girl. I got shot, was tricked and betrayed by being... good, and yet somehow despite that and who I was... I still came here. And I'm wearing this suit preparing to fight an enemy of my people I spent my childhood fearing like your boogerman.”

“Bogeyman,” she corrected, trying not to laugh.

“English is not my first language. It's not even my second. Or third,” Mon-El told her. He looked at her. “You do know my weakness, but if you wanted to test yourself against someone who is basically invulnerable...”

“You're not really offering to let me use my frost powers against you, are you?”

He grimaced. “I did. I'm not sure where that bit of... whatever that was comes from, but... the offer stands. If you want to, I'm here. I'll help.”

“You are more of a hero than you think,” Caitlin said. She shook her head. “I told Barry once that with or without his speed, he was still himself, and he didn't see it that way—”

“But aren't you still you with your frost powers?” Mon-El asked. “I am a Daxamite because that's where I was born. I'm an alien when I'm here, but not when I was there. And there are other things I wish I could have left behind, but I didn't. That's still... me.”

“You sound like you don't want it to be.”

“I'm still not that good of a person.”

Caitlin shook her head. “I think you are. You may have fallen into a pattern of behavior that was selfish and easy, things you didn't have to think about, but if you had, you would have done it differently.”

“What about you? What if Killer Frost was a pattern of behavior that you thought you had to have because you were using frost powers? What if you could have both?”

“You're just making my point for me,” she said. She sighed. “I don't know. Barry and the others seem to think so, though Cisco vibed something that says I'll go evil—and I did, but if that wasn't the end of things... It's probably not worth the risk.”

“Lead will kill me. A single bullet almost did already. I guess the risk is too great for me to go out there. You're on your own with the Dominators.”

“That's not the same thing. We were able to create a suit and a serum to minimize that risk.”

“Which is why I'm offering to let you test yourself on me. Minimal risk.”

“Mon-El—”

“Even if you did hurt me, it wouldn't be a loss, trust me. So if you want to try, then you should do it to me. I didn't deserve to survive Daxam. And I don't belong here among these heroes.”

“I think you do,” Caitlin said, touching his cheek. “I even think I know what your name should be. That's normally Cisco's job, but under the circumstances... I think it should be Valor.”

Mon-El stared at her. “That's more like the opposite of what I am. The only thing he and I have in common is—well, it's not courage. Not honor. Not—”

“You keep trying to convince everyone that it doesn't exist, but down deep in here,” she moved her hand over his chest, actually putting it on above where his was and not where a human's would be, “is a good heart.”

He stared at her, wanting to deny it. 

He couldn't.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More recruitment. More introductions. Huge change to plot... and yet not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I could have done the whole chapter on recruitment, but I covered two main ones, and I hope that's enough.
> 
> I had to repeat the introductions, and for that I'm sorry but the new people needed to know things, so that is why that bit of repetition ended up in there.
> 
> Maybe this was the wrong choice and I should just have stuck to the episode...

* * *

“You have got to be kidding me.”

“One battle,” Kara said. She had known that J'onn would be a hard sell, but she still hadn't thought it would be this hard. She could feel Cisco's eyes on her, and she knew that they were running out of time. The deadline the Dominators had given Barry wasn't very far off, and they needed all the help they could get. She wasn't sure how else they'd do this. They had to give the Dominators the fight of their lives or they would bomb the planet and enslave everyone.

“That is not our world,” J'onn said. “You should never have gone there in the first place, but now you want me _and_ your cousin to abandon this world and go fight a war in another dimension.”

Kara sighed. “Each and every one of the people on the other side would come here and fight for us if we needed them to. If they had been here for Myriad—”

“They would have been controlled like everyone else,” J'onn said.

“You don't know that. Metahumans are different. There are technological geniuses over there—never mind. I'll just ask Clark,” Kara said, disappointed. She knew that J'onn was probably right—they still needed someone to defend this world, but how could he stand back when the Dominators could wipe out life on Barry's earth like the white martians had done to his world?

“Supergirl,” J'onn began, but she shook her head, turning away to text her cousin. She thought that Kal-El would be different. He would want to help. That was who he was, and it wouldn't matter what earth he had to be on.

“So...” Cisco began, “You're a martian? You don't look very... green.”

J'onn looked at her. “Are you serious? This is the sort of person you're helping?”

“In case you missed it, Cisco can travel between universes. And he helped make Mon-El a suit that would protect him from lead poisoning which is more than anyone here at the DEO has done,” Kara said. “He's a good person.”

“Thank you,” Cisco told her. “Sorry. I just... I know I should be a little less quick to assume, but in our defense, the aliens we've been up against lately were not friendly. Well, she is, but the Dominators? Hell, no.”

Air rushed over them, and Clark came to a stop right next to them. “Kara, it's good to see you, though when you said it was an emergency—”

“It is, and I wish we were seeing each other again under other circumstances,” Kara said, wincing. “We need your help. Not that you're not free to say no. J'onn already did.”

“I don't understand,” Clark said with a frown. “Why would I refuse to help? You weren't lying about giving me all of your Kryptonite, were you?”

“No,” J'onn almost snapped.

“It's because I'm asking you to help me end an alien invasion on another earth.”

“Another earth?”

“Hi,” Cisco said, extending a hand to him. “I'm Cisco Ramon, and I'm not from this earth. You see, there is this thing called a multiverse, and in it—”

“I've heard of a multiverse,” Clark told him. “I just never thought it existed. It was debated by the greatest minds of Krypton, and the archives don't have enough data to prove whether or not it's real. In fact, our parents argued over it.”

“They did,” Kara agreed, grimacing. She remembered those 'conversations.' She had almost dreaded having her uncle come over because of them. “And... we actually can prove it with one simple step. Just go through when Cisco opens the portal, and we'll all be in another world.”

“A world threatened by aliens.”

“The Dominators,” Kara said. “I know you probably haven't heard of them, but they—”

“There were references to them in the archives,” Clark said. “Not much detail, but they invaded Krypton before. Killed people, did horrific experiments—”

“Exactly,” Kara said. “So... will you help us? We don't have much time.”

* * *

“I am so glad to see you,” Thea said, wrapping her arms around Roy. “You have no idea.”

“I still can't believe you found me,” Roy said, not letting her go. “A part of me is glad. Another part thinks I should have run the minute someone called my name.”

“Yeah, well, you wouldn't have gotten far,” Thea said. “Or did you somehow miss the part where you came back via the Flash?”

Roy laughed. She had missed that sound, this feeling. Being with Roy was like having a part of home back, one she thought she'd lost. She hadn't felt this good since she almost accepted the dreamworld the Dominators had them in.

“It's good to see you, Roy,” Dig said from behind them. Thea reluctantly let Roy go, knowing she wasn't the only one who wanted to see him. Dig, Felicity, and Oliver had all missed him, too.

“Dig,” Roy said, offering the other man a hand, which he ignored to hug him instead. Roy patted him on the back before stepping away. “Felicity.”

She forced a smile. “If you make me cry, I'll have to kill you.”

“Not planning on making you cry.”

“Just when you leave again,” Thea said, folding her arms over her chest. He looked at her, shrugging. “Still, I'm glad they were able to find you and get you here. It... It means a lot to all of us. I know you were trying to live a quiet life, a good one—”

“It's my planet, too,” Roy said. “Someone has to help protect it, and I know how. Kind of wish I still had that stuff Slade injected me with right about now, but I'll settle for a bow.”

“And I've got one for you,” Oliver said. Roy turned to him. “Apparently Sara got herself a timeship that can replicate anything. Including this.”

Roy stepped forward, taking the bow from him. “For what it's worth, Oliver, I don't regret what I did. At all.”

“Not even a little?” Thea asked. “Because if you didn't have a little bit of regret, I think I'm going to be very insulted.”

“I did miss all of you,” Roy told her. “And I'm a little worried about all those people staring at me right now.”

“Oh,” Felicity said. “Let me introduce you to the new team. We have Curtis—”

“Mr. Terrific.”

“—Rene Ramirez—”

“Wild Dog.”

“—Rory Regan—”

“Ragman.”

Roy smiled, shaking hands with all of them. He turned to Oliver. “I thought I saw on the news you had one more.”

“I did,” Oliver said. “It's a long story. We'll get into it later. Right now, we need you suited up and ready to fight. They're working on improving our arrows for us, and we can get in a bit of practice, which I'm betting you need.”

“Nice,” Roy said. “And to think I missed you.”

* * *

“Cisco.” Barry spotted the portal and ran over to it, getting there just as the others stepping out of the portal. He smiled at each of them, glad to see their numbers increase, even if it was just by two. One of them was obviously Kara's cousin. No mistaking that outfit, that was for sure. “I was starting to get worried.”

Cisco shook his head. “No way, man. We weren't going to let you down. I know we're running a little late, but our martian friend there took some convincing from Team Krypton.”

Barry nodded. He turned to the man next to Kara's cousin. “Thank you for coming. We appreciate, especially with so little notice and your own world to worry about.”

“Not a problem. We're happy to help,” the cousin said, getting a grunt from the other man. He held out a hand. “You can call me Clark.”

“Barry Allen,” he said. “And I can introduce you to the others in a second. I'm sorry we didn't get a chance to meet before, when I was in your world, Director Henshaw.”

“It's J'onn Jonzz,” the other man corrected, and then his body sparked red as he shifted into something much more green. Barry forced himself not to stare. He knew the man was a martian, but seeing it was something else, something incredible.

“Awesome,” Cisco said. “That is... so awesome.”

Barry nodded. “It is. Wow. Um... I just finished bringing Jay and his friend up to speed, Oliver took care of that with Roy, and I think Sara was briefing the Hawks.”

“Hawks?” Kara asked, frowning. “Are we talking about actual birds?”

“It's complicated,” Barry said. “Like I said, we'll run through the introductions in a few minutes. Just need to get everyone together first. We may have a few stragglers.”

“Please tell me you don't want me to go to another universe,” Cisco said. “I'm not even sure we know of any others we could pull people from—we don't know anyone there and they could be evil. Not that we didn't consider possibly using some evil to do good, but I don't—”

“I think you might need a rest,” Kara told him. “I know you went to two other universes before we went to mine again. And I may have tracked down Roy while you were doing that but I think that's still less work.”

“We've all been busy,” Barry agreed, “and I wish we had more time for a rest, but that deadline is coming up fast. Let's get everyone together, and we'll get started on a final briefing. I'm pretty sure Oliver is going to handle that.”

“Sounds good,” Kara said. “Were we able to upgrade any of the weapons that the non-metas will be using against the Dominators? Like I said before, many of them don't have powers. They're good fighters—”

“I've worked with vigilantes before,” Clark reminded her. “They can be surprisingly effective at what they do.”

“Or a whole different kind of dangerous,” J'onn said. 

“Maybe a little bit of both,” Barry agreed. He knew what they'd said about Oliver, and he'd made a few mistakes of his own. “Though we have helped save the world a few times, too.”

“Let us hope this proves to be another time.”

Barry nodded. He knew that was what they all wanted. He also knew if it wasn't how this ended, it would be all his fault. He should just have handed himself over to Dominators. Maybe it would have bought them more time, and they would need it.

“You said you were working on technology to overcome these... Dominators?”

“Yep. Team Arrow, Flash, and Legends were all working on it when I left,” Cisco said. He saw the looks and smiled. “That is... Felicity, Curtis, Caitlin, Stein, and Ray. Plus the Danvers, Harry, and Lily Stein, who technically don't have teams.”

Barry grimaced. He didn't know that he wanted to tell her Cisco what Caitlin had been up to while he was gone. He still had trouble believing it himself. “We'll get to that in the briefing. First things first—”

“People,” Oliver called across the room. “Time to suit up.”

* * *

“For those of you who don't know me, I am the Green Arrow,” Oliver said, looking around the room. “Others of you know me better as Oliver Queen. I'm the mayor of Star City, and like it or not, I am the de facto leader of our little... army.”

He heard some applause as well as a cat-call from Thea. He gave her a look, and she smirked in return. “I am going to give everyone a brief rundown on who's here, so we all know who we're fighting with. I know some of us have been through this before, but some of us are new to the party, and we need to know who and what we're dealing with. First we learn allies. Then we talk enemies. With me, I bring two fellow archers—my sister Thea, also known as Speedy and Roy Harper, Arsenal. John Diggle, army special forces, Spartan. Felicity Smoak, tech goddess—Overwatch. Rory Regan—Ragman. Rene Ramirez—Wild Dog. Curtis Holt—Mr. Terrific.”

“I'm Sara Lance, White Canary,” she said. “I'm a trained assassin. Other members of my team—Ray Palmer, the Atom—”

“I have a suit,” he said, and she rolled her eyes at him. 

“Mick Rory—Heatwave. He's our resident pyromaniac,” Sara went on, “Amaya Jiwe—Vixen. Nate Heywood—Steel. Professor Stein and Jax Jackson—Firestorm. Couple of former members—Hawkman and Hawkgirl, Carter Hall and Kendra Saunders.”

“Barry Allen. Fastest man alive,” he said, grinning. “My friend, Cisco Ramon—Vibe and amazing tech support.”

“I'm Kara Danvers, Supergirl,” she said. “My cousin, Clark Kent. Better known as Superman. And J'onn Jonzz, the Martian Manhunter.”

“Some of our newer additions are Jay Garrick, the Flash from Earth-3,” Barry said, gesturing to him. “And his friend, Dinah Lance who is also known as Black Canary, not to be confused with someone we once knew as—this is Earth-3's Black Canary.”

“Fishnets,” Thea said. “Nice fashion statement.”

The other woman smiled back, giving her a small salute.

“Harrison Wells from Earth-2 joined our tech team, but with us is his daughter, Jessie Quick, a fellow speedster,” Barry said. “Wally West, Kid Flash, might be up and running again, but we're not sure about that yet.”

Oliver gave him a look. Wally was a last resort, though he supposed it was worth mentioning that they had him as backup even if he was still technically on injured leave. He looked around the room with a frown. “Damn it.”

“Something wrong?” Superman asked, frowning as he folded his arms over his chest.

“I was about to turn over this little speech to the resident expert on the Dominators, but he seems to be missing,” Oliver said, shaking his head in disbelief. “Where the hell is he?”

“Sorry we're late,” Caitlin said, and Oliver turned back to look at her. She looked sheepish, and Oliver almost swore as soon as he saw her. He knew how hard it would be to stay mad at her, and yet he also knew what she was about to say. “I think it may have been my fault.”

“Someone was being very stubborn about her hero name,” Mon-El said. “I got a little sidetracked trying to help her find a better one. Not only is the one negative, but it's also what you would call—what is that phrase again?”

“Self-fulfilling prophecy,” Caitlin said.

“That,” Mon-El agreed. “If she keeps seeing her powers as an immediate step to evil, that is what it's going to become. So we were discussing alternatives and our training session ran late.”

“Hold up,” Cisco said. “You two were... training? As in full on frost versus alien? No inhibitors?”

Caitlin nodded. “I really am not that comfortable with it, but we went to other worlds looking for people to help. I prefer to do that with my mind, but I can't deny that I have abilities, and they might even be needed.”

“Okay, so... What about the ice-eyed monster?” Cisco asked. “Any sign of—”

“None,” she said. “And Mon-El swears he didn't get frostbite, either.”

 _“Tynth,_ I would not lie to you,” Mon-El said with a formal bow, the sort of thing that only belonged in movies. “I am honored to have had your trust in this matter.”

“Did you just—”

“Use a formal court greeting?” Mon-El finished. “Yes. I'm also never doing it again. I can tell that was... a very bad idea because everyone is staring at me.”

Oliver folded his arms over his chest. “You were supposed to be here to tell everyone about the Dominators.”

“Wait a minute,” Superman said. “A _Daxamite_ is your expert on the Dominators?”

“Clark, please don't do this,” Supergirl said. “I told you about Mon-El. I know I may have vented a little—I've been very frustrated with him at times, but Mon-El is not a typical Daxamite, and he has helped us so much—not just here but before we came here, too. And what he knows about the Dominators has been invaluable. We have a few obscure myths, as you said. Mon-El has legends. Oral traditions that have been passed down generation to generation.”

“And a freaky mural,” Cisco added, shuddering. “Point being, dude knows his history.”

Superman shook his head, but the martian touched his arm. They didn't speak, but Oliver wasn't so sure that was a good thing. He knew they needed Kara, but he wasn't so sure she should have brought her cousin, even if his powers were like hers.

“Mon-El,” Oliver said. “The Dominators?”

The alien grimaced. “It figures. I get stuck with the role as well as the name. This is a much, much shorter version of the legend we would tell if this was the real Feast of Liberation, but... centuries ago, the Dominators came to our solar system. They gained foothold on our sister planet, Krypton, and then they invaded Daxam. They slaughtered the ruling house and most of our armies, taking those that did not die as captives for experiments. An unknown man from a lesser noble house rose to power, gathering the remnants of the army and fought back. He freed the experiments, and with them, the army drove the Dominators off of Daxam and then from Krypton.”

“You didn't save us. We don't owe anything to a Daxamite—”

“Clark, we do,” Supergirl said. “That part is in our legends as well, we just obscure it and choose to hate Valor for his decision to exile the experiments to neighboring worlds as a barrier against the Dominators.”

The Kryptonian glared at the Daxamite. The Daxamite rolled his eyes. Oliver considered shooting both of them, but he only knew how to damage the one.

“The Dominators hate their experiments. Their mutations. What we call metahumans, they call enemies. That means all of you are a threat to them. They have a weapon they intend to use against you, but it will kill more than the metahumans,” the Daxamite said, and the Kryptonian frowned. “They said they wanted one of you and they would leave the planet alone. That is almost what they asked for when they murdered the ruling house. That is what we're letting them think they're getting—a chance to kill all of us at the same time.”

“Thank you, Mon-El,” Oliver told him. “Tech support?”

“First of all, we believe we have a way to counter the mind-control and their teleporters, but the range is limited. Anyone who goes out of the field we'll be able to generate will be at risk,” Felicity reported, looking at Wells, who nodded. “We've got a device to plant on all the Dominators during the fight that will weaken them, and we were able to modify some bullets and arrows for the non-powered among us.”

“We've got one ship that we will use to intercept the metabomb once they launch it,” Sara added. “I'll be piloting the Waverider.”

“And that is where we stand,” Oliver said. “Our position is lousy, and our plan sucks. I can't lie to you about that. We've done what we can against their technology and their numbers. We know how to fight. We do it every day. This time we're not fighting for our cities, our countries, or those we love. We're fighting for our world.”

He looked around at everyone, not sure if this damned speech was any good.

“Our world,” he repeated. “And we will not let it fall.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final preparations are made and the fight against the Dominators starts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm once again not very good with the action parts. I rewatched the episode bit a few times, wanting to just follow it, but I changed too much, so hopefully this still... works.

* * *

“We don't have much time,” Oliver said, addressing the group again. “We've arranged to meet the Dominators to turn over Barry in less than an hour. We've already set up our generators to block their technology, but they are not online yet. Hopefully, they'll seem harmless to the Dominators though we have backups in case those have been destroyed, and our faster team members will be trained in how to place them, if they're not already. I'd like those of you without any experience in fighting aliens to take a few turns with our allies. Brief sessions. Five, ten minutes. It's not much, all we can spare, but I don't want you completely out of your depth out there.”

“What about those of us you already put through the alien ringer?” Wild Dog asked. “You gonna make us do it again?”

“I could,” Oliver said. “But considering how badly you did against Mon-El, letting you take on Supergirl would probably kill you.”

“Not cool,” Wild Dog said. Cisco smiled, enjoying seeing him get taken down a notch just a little too much. He knew people feared metas, but one of theirs doing it? That just felt all sorts of wrong, and Cisco knew that had to change. Besides, how did the guy work with Ragman and still hate metas? Even if that was magic, not meta, it was still weird and too powerful to trust, right?

Well, not for Cisco. He thought it was awesome.

“Oh, the one in rags was tough. So was the one you call Arsenal,” Mon-El said. “Still, for the most part... Caitlin here gave me more of a challenge.”

“Burn,” Cisco said, holding up a hand for Caitlin to high five. She just looked at it. “Okay, fine. Be that way. So... We're all set besides a few more little fights?”

“Little?” Superman asked, coming up to them. He was kind of awesome, too, in his way, even if he didn't seem as chill as his cousin. Kara was a lot friendlier, at least so far. “You're having them fight my cousin. That doesn't seem little to me. Especially not when you add Thanagarians to the mix.”

“Not everyone has an issue with Thanagar,” Mon-El said, shaking his head in disgust, arms folded over his chest. “Just because you Kryptonians couldn't maintain diplomatic relations with them does not make them evil. It just makes them unwilling to tolerate your pompous self-righteousness, which is hard to fault them for.”

“Hold on,” Sara said, lifting a hand to stop the argument about to erupt between Kryptonian and Daxamite—again, “In the first place, Carter and Kendra aren't actually from Thanagar—that's a long story we don't have time for—but you actually know that planet?”

Superman shook his head. “Only from the archives.”

Mon-El, on the other hand, nodded. “I've been there. Well, in my universe. It's been years now, but they used to be on good terms with the honorable royal family of Daxam.”

“It makes sense that your peoples would get along,” Superman muttered, not under his breatha and not disguising his contempt. “Two races of bullies and—”

“You're just mad because your superpowers don't let you bend Nth metal,” Mon-El said. He turned to the others. “Nth metal is from—”

“Thanagar. We know,” Sara said. “The Time Masters were convinced that we had to allow Vandal Savage to live to prevent Thanagar from invading us. If you're actually on good terms with them—”

“The Daxamite royal family is dead,” Superman said, and Cisco thought he might actually be happy about that, which he so should not be, especially not when he was making the Daxamite look like a kicked puppy right before he got almost scary angry. “As is their planet, and since they're also in another universe, that doesn't help you any.”

“It would at least tell us what we're up against,” Sara said, reaching out to wrap her arm around Mon-El's and starting to lead him away from the rest of them. “Come with me. I want to know what you know of Thanagar.”

Kara looked at her cousin. “You know, you of all people should not be carrying on Kryptonite prejudice against Daxamites. You weren't even old enough to hear the stories I did. I know what the archive said, but Clark—those archives have bias. Our bias. And if what Mon-El knows of Thanagar can stop a war, then we need to support that, not fly in the face of it because of old grudges. It doesn't matter anymore. None of us were a part of the war between our planets, no one remembers why it happened, and we are all that is left of either world. We have to be the _best_ that's left, not the worst.”

Superman nodded. “I know. It's just... I've read over the archives for hours. I spent every spare moment I could there trying to understand who I was and where I came from. I learned a lot, but I... I learned bias, too.”

“This is not the place or the time for it,” Oliver told him. “We have limited resources and limited time. Kara, you need to give our newest recruits a run-through. I want to make sure we're not making a mistake in sending any of them out there.”

She nodded. “I'm on it.”

* * *

“Tell me the aliens picked this place,” Dig said, and Kara knew that two of her companions were frowning, even if she and Mon-El might be ready to laugh about it. “Who fights on a rooftop? Besides us, I mean.”

“They think we're coming here to turn me over to them,” Barry reminded him in a low voice. “They'll be in a ship. A rooftop makes sense.”

“Just saying this is not one of our better plans,” Dig muttered. “And don't say it—I know we don't have good plans.”

“It'll work,” Oliver said. “It has to work.”

“Optimism can help,” Clark agreed. “And you have assembled a large fighting force, though I am not sure all of them are up to the task ahead of them.”

“They have to be.”

“It is dangerous to send the untested into battle,” J'onn added. “Lack of experience can—”

“Not now,” Kara interrupted, giving a look toward Oliver's team. They were among the newest and most untested, and they didn't need doom and gloom. They needed hope. All of them did.

“This isn't practice,” Oliver said. “The Dominators will be here in a few minutes. All hell will break loose, and we will be at war. Don't pull your punches, don't think it will be easy, and don't you dare give it any less than your all.”

“Can't say I think much of his speeches,” J'onn muttered, and Kara rolled her eyes. She happened to think that J'onn had some harsher ones, even if that was in part because he was still trying to carry on the illusion of Hank Henshaw.

“You just don't like not being the one in charge,” Clark teased with a smile, and J'onn gave him a look in return. Kara laughed.

“Wow,” Mon-El said. “They actually have senses of humor. I didn't think that was possible.”

Kara bit her lip, trying not to laugh at that because neither of the others would appreciate it. “Mon-El—”

“I'm getting the feeling neither of them thought you had a heart, so I suppose you're even,” Caitlin said, and Mon-El grinned at her. Kara frowned, not sure why she was so troubled by their bond. They were good friends. They'd helped each other. Mon-El had gotten her over her fear of her powers, and she'd helped him with his lead allergy and his reluctance to be a hero. They were a nice balance for each other, and Kara knew that. She didn't know why it unsettled her.

“Things are never really even between Daxamites and Kryptonians, but I'm just glad I have you on my side,” Mon-El told her. “Ice Queen?”

“No,” Caitlin said. “Again, no. It's not as simple or as easy as it was with you, Valor.”

“People,” Oliver hissed, and they fell quiet for a minute as the Dominators started to beam down in front of them.

“Is that—”

“It's ugly,” Nate said. “I mean, the alien that we rescued in 1951, the one we call Ugly. If Cisco was here, he'd confirm it, but that looks like him to me.”

“You have come with many to surrender one man,” the alien said, and Kara grimaced at the invasion inside her head. She really didn't like the way the Dominators communicated. “Why?”

“Because only a fool would believe you didn't intend to slaughter them all anyway,” Mon-El said. “It's what you do, after all. You gather the greatest threats and eliminate them all at once.”

“Mon—Valor,” Oliver hissed, correcting the name at the last second. He turned back to the alien. “How would we know you'd honor your bargain?”

“I am willing to go,” Barry said, “but I won't if Valor's right. If I give myself to you, how do I know you'll actually leave? That you won't turn around and kill everyone I'm trying to protect.”

“Valor,” the alien said with a hiss. “Once again you interfere.”

Mon-El shook his head. “Um, technically I didn't—”

“They're releasing the metabomb.”

“And that last bit Ugly just said translates to 'kill them all.'”

* * *

Though awareness was crucial to any fight, Oliver found it impossible to keep track of everyone that was in play. The number was large, and with more than one person with superspeed, it was impossible to be sure where any of them were at a given moment. He gave up on trying to keep tabs on them two seconds into the fight, concentrating his attention on his people instead.

The improved weapons helped, actually taking down some of the aliens instead of what they'd seen on the footage from the past. He'd been worried about that, thinking that even as good as Dig and Rene were, they'd be hopelessly outmatched here, same even with his bow—and Roy's and Thea's. No, without the upgraded weaponry, they would have been a joke, pure and simple.

This way he felt some satisfaction with every Dominator he took down, even if he wasn't nailing multiple aliens in one go like Barry, Firestorm, the Kryptonians, or even Rory.

“Not sure we brought enough arrows for this,” Roy said, nailing another Dominator right in the head. It fell back with a thud, and Roy grimaced.

“We're buying time,” Oliver said. “Nothing matters if we can't stop that metabomb.”

He knew that Sara was working on it, her and Firestorm now, and he had to trust them to come through with it, though that was never easy for him. Trust was not his thing.

“You ready to admit you miss this yet?” Thea asked, moving close to Roy, firing an arrow into an alien's leg. “Just a little?”

“I never stopped missing you,” Roy told her, getting a grin out of her before they both went back to shooting the enemy.

Oliver shook his head. He didn't need to watch that. Still, if he had any way of making it possible to get Roy back on his team, he'd take it. He had good people, but Roy was different. Roy was the one who taught Oliver how to be a mentor. None of the others would have had a chance if he hadn't pushed so damned hard.

“I think it's time to start on phase two,” Oliver said, hoping the speedsters and aliens were up to this. “Any time now, Barry.”

“Already on it,” Barry said over the comms. “You know I'm headed across the pacific right now, don't you?”

“I'd forgotten how much I dislike New York traffic,” Jay said, getting some laughter from the others, though Oliver didn't find much in this situation funny. Maybe if this worked and the Dominators were forced to leave the planet. Not before then.

“Ha,” Kara said. “Try Paris. It's beautiful here this time of year. So romantic, too. Remind me to come back sometime.”

“Lois does like it,” Superman said, “though currently I'm looking at the unforgiving Russian steppe and wondering why I volunteered to take Siberia.”

“Because you're a nerd,” Kara teased. “How are things in South America?”

“Good,” Jessie said. “And amazing. I wish I'd had time to visit when I was here before, and I am with Kara—definitely coming back later. Maybe Wally and I can make a day of it when he's feeling better.”

“Keep moving,” Oliver ordered. “And remember—we don't have any protection against mind control for you out there. Be careful.”

* * *

“So I think we can say that the attempt to block teleportation was a failure,” Mon-El said, stopping next to Caitlin and watching the Dominators disappear into their ship. Felicity had apparently brought the pain, and the metabomb was gone, but he didn't know that he was sure it was over.

A retreat seemed like victory.

That worried him.

Caitlin touched his arm. “I'm sure Kara is fine. She's just not back from the other side of the planet yet.”

“I'm not—that's not—yes, she's fine. She's Supergirl,” Mon-El said, and Caitlin smiled at his fumbling attempt to fix her assumption. He was worried about Kara, and trying to lie about it hadn't worked, only made it worse. “Speaking of super girls—nicely done.”

“I still feel so guilty,” Caitlin said, putting the inhibitors back on her wrists.

“All you did was freeze the alien. I'm the one that punched it and broke it to pieces.”

“Please,” Caitlin said, holding up a hand. “Don't remind me.”

“I won't,” Mon-El told her. She tried to give him a smile, and he decided on a different tactic, a custom that humans, Daxamites, and Kryptonians all shared. He pulled her close and hugged her. “Thank you. I know I always say that it's Kara's fault I'm doing this—and it is, it really is—but it wouldn't have been possible without you.”

“You're not really saying my powers—”

“You fixed my lead allergy. If I had to worry about that—no way I'd be here,” Mon-El admitted, and she looked up at him with a genuine smile that time. “I owe you, Doctor Snow.”

“And I owe you, Valor. I'd still be afraid of myself if you hadn't convinced me to try this and to fight you,” she said, pulling away from him. “I am actually going to miss you when you go back to your own world.”

“You could come visit.”

“I just might,” she said. “You know, after we stop the Savitar crisis and the next one after that.”

He knew they both knew it wouldn't happen, but it was a nice thought anyway. He looked back at the others. “I suppose they need you. You're the only doctor here. Somehow that seems like bad planning to me.”

She laughed, patting him on the back before going to check on the others.

* * *

Barry stopped at the edge of the warehouse, needing a break. He hadn't really been prepared for how much his little trip across the world would take out of him, or how tired he'd be when he got back. Most of the others were here before he was. So much for fastest man alive.

“Reports are coming in from all over the world,” Felicity said. “The Dominators have fled the planet. Beamed up and away, apparently.”

“Are we sure about that?” Oliver asked, and Barry looked at him, wondering why he couldn't just take the win.

“You don't trust our people?”

“Not all of them are ours,” Oliver reminded him, and Barry grimaced. They had to outsource a lot of the device application because as fast as he was, even he couldn't clear seven continents at once. He and Kara had done a lot of that, but they'd also used Jessie, Clark, and Jay. Oliver didn't know any of them, and even if others trusted them, wasn't enough for him.

“True, but they also have no reason to lie,” Barry said. “We sent them out there with the risk of them being controlled, but we didn't see any signs that people under their control could communicate.”

Oliver grunted.

“I'm going to do another sweep of the planet,” Kara said. “I'll see if there are any others out there, just in case, but I think we did it. We beat them back.”

“Did we?” Oliver asked. “And how long is it going to last?”

“Can we just, for once, maybe, take the win?” Barry asked. “Yes, we're going to need contingencies in case they come back, but we did what Daxam couldn't do—we fought back their initial onslaught. That might even be enough to keep them off earth forever.”

“That is not an assumption I'm going to make lightly. Next time we might not have time to gather people from other worlds to help us,” Oliver said. “And without them—”

“I know,” Barry said. “We're going to have to do what we can to make sure we're ready if they do come back. The good news on that end is that we have some tech that counters theirs, we know what we're up against, and we have some good people fighting with us. I'm not even talking about the ones we pulled from other worlds. Stein's daughter was a huge help, the Danvers can be called on again, your team did really well, I think you'll be able to stay in touch with Roy this time, and Wally is still pissed he was only up at the end of the fight. Oh, and Caitlin. She fought on both sides this time—with her mind in the brain trust and with her powers. We're not defenseless, Oliver. And we won't be. You'd never let that happen.”

“It's like you said.” Felicity touched Oliver's arm. “This is our world, and we won't let it fall. Yes, we're going to be paranoid. For a long, long time. We're going to be looking for any kind of hint that they're back or could come back, but we're also going to be prepared for them.”

Oliver just looked at her.

“Speaking of being prepared,” Barry began. “I know you're dealing with another vigilante and with Prometheus—and I've got this evil speedster who claims he's a god—”

“Barry, so help me—”

“So what do you say that we don't end the team up just yet?”


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Almost everyone celebrates at the party afterward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I know I said the team up isn't done. And I don't actually think it should be. I just think... it would be better as a separate story or (I really hope I'm not that crazy) two, one for the other big bads of the shows. I'm not sure how I'd handle that just yet, so it might take some more episodes before I'd start something like that.
> 
> I'm hoping this is a good enough stopping point until those other team ups are ready.

* * *

“I'm sorry you can't stay for the celebration,” Kara said, frowning a little as she looked at her cousin. She wanted Clark to stay, wanted everyone to stay, but it looked like a lot of the team were already starting to scatter and go home.

“We said one battle,” J'onn reminded her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “We cannot afford to leave our own world unprotected. Even with the DEO, some threats are greater than one agency can handle.”

Kara nodded. She knew that. That was why she worked with them, why J'onnn had let her do it in the first place. He'd needed her. National City still needed her. Metropolis needed Clark. She had to get back to her own world as well.

“It is enough that you stay to represent us,” Clark said. “Especially since your de facto leader isn't sure that the Dominators are gone. If you remain a little longer, you can still help them should the Dominators return. If they don't, then... you just enjoy the celebration for us.”

“I will. Or I'll try to while worrying about the Dominators coming back and feeling guilty that you couldn't stay,” Kara told him, going over to hug him. “Thank you, both, for coming. It means a lot to me—to all of us.”

“I'm glad we could help,” Clark said. “I know that I didn't always show that, but I am. I hope you always feel you can call on me if you need me, though hopefully next time it won't be on another earth.”

“I must admit that while I disagree with some of their methods and their chosen memberships, this... team up of theirs is not entirely without merit,” J'onn said, and Kara looked at him. “It might be beneficial to have such an arrangement where we could call upon others for the defense of our own world.”

“Like the Justice Society that Amaya mentioned?” Kara asked, liking the idea, though an official name and leader might be nice, too. She supposed that would be J'onn, since he had the most experience on their world.

Clark nodded. “Something like that. We've got three members right here.”

“Four,” Kara said, folding her arms over her chest. “I know you're still fighting against Kryptonian prejudice, but Mon-El proved himself today. Did you see him working with Caitlin? It was so... It was good. Sweet, even. He kept her grounded and balanced and made sure she wasn't afraid of her powers—and that she didn't actually have to hurt anyone with them. She just froze them. He did the rest. I think that was... huge for her. I'm really proud of him.”

“And maybe a little jealous?” Clark asked, causing Kara to stare at him in shock. “And worried, I think, that Mon-El might think this place is a better fit for him than our world.”

“No,” Kara protested immediately. “He wouldn't think that. I mean, I know that I'm kind of all he has on our world and that he kind of got off on the wrong foot with a lot of people there, but that doesn't mean he'd just... stay here. This isn't his world.”

“Technically, neither is our earth,” Clark reminded her. “His planet is gone. And he doesn't have the same roots as we do. I had my parents. I have Lois, Jimmy, and you. You have the Danvers, Winn, me, even J'onn. Mon-El... has more friends here than on our world.”

Kara's stomach twisted up unpleasantly, making her feel kind of sick. “I know he and Caitlin are good friends now, and Thea was flirting with him like crazy before we found Roy, but Mon-El... he has to come back with us, doesn't he?”

“You might ask the experts on the multiverse about that,” Clark said. Then he smiled. “Kara, if you want Mon-El to come back, tell him. He deserves to know.”

“I...”

“We'll see you at the DEO,” J'onn told her, shifting back into his Hank Henshaw appearance before stepping through the portal. Clark gave her another smile before doing the same.

Kara watched the portal close behind them, frowning.

Cisco came over to her. “Hey, at least you're not missing out on the party, right?”

She forced a smile. “Right.”

* * *

“Many responsibilities have fallen to me since the president's passing at the beginning of this crisis,” the new president began from the podium, addressing all of them in turn. “Sobering, sad responsibilities. This is not one of them.” 

“I think Oliver gives better speeches,” Roy muttered, and Thea grinned. 

“That is because I found him the best speechwriter ever.”

“You?”

Thea grinned back at him, tempted to do a bunch of things that were not fit for an audience right here and now. Damn, she'd missed him. Roy had done so much, become so much better than he used to be, and so was she, in some ways. In some ways, she wasn't. She was still that privileged rich girl slumming.

It just wasn't any fun to slum without the right people.

“Today, it is my distinct honor to bestow upon you a small acknowledgment of the great debt that the world owes to you all,” the president went on, “Although your brave efforts must remain a secret, know that, meta-human or not, masked or not, each and every one of you is a hero.”

“I wonder if that means she'll go through with pardoning Dig,” Thea said. “He didn't do what they said he did.”

“I know,” Roy agreed, and she smiled at him. He would know. He'd known Dig almost as long as she had. “Guess we can find out in a few minutes.”

“If she stays that long,” Thea said, watching the president start on her handshakes. She was planning on leaving as soon as she was done. Thea had arranged enough events for Oliver to be sure about that.

“Even if she doesn't, I have got something for you,” Cisco said from behind them, and they turned to him with a frown. “Meet me after your handshake, and I'll show you. I think you're going to love it.”

Roy frowned. “Not sure what to think about that.”

Thea had to agree. Sometimes Cisco was great, but then he could be a little weird, too. She wasn't sure how to take him. Or the little crush she knew he'd had on her once. Still, that was nothing she couldn't handle. She was Thea Queen. She dealt with those kinds of guys daily—or she used to.

“Thank you both for your assistance,” the president said, shaking their hands in turn, and Thea had to wonder if she couldn't tell them apart even if the costumes were different and she was shorter than Roy.

Thea nodded, and the president moved on, continuing down the line. She shook her head, not really wanting to wait until the other woman was done, even if she knew she should. Not that she should be upset that so many heroes showed up to fight off the aliens, but it was still hard to be patient.

Roy nudged her as soon as the president finished, and she walked with him over to where Cisco stood with the rest of the brain trust, who had not been on stage.

“Hey, good, you're here,” Cisco said. “So, I know that everyone's sad about people going their separate ways—Barry wanted to cry when Jay left, I swear, but then dude looks like his dad, so it makes sense—and I got to thinking about how you'd have to go because you're supposedly dead and can't go out as Roy Harper anymore. Well, here's the thing—HR brought with him this device that alters a person's appearance—but we can see it's still him. It's how he goes around looking like Harrison Wells even though the Wells of our world is a confessed murderer.”

“Wait,” Thea said, “are you saying there's a way that... Roy could use this thing to stay with us? Like... permanently?”

“Yeah,” Cisco said. “I hadn't really played around with reverse engineering it before, but then we had this invasion and I was on the Waverider, and I figured... why not?”

Thea turned to Roy, excited, but then she saw the look on his face. He was just standing there, stunned. “You... Would you want that? To come back? I know you said you wanted to live a better life, and maybe this isn't the way to do that. You said you wanted me to have a normal life, and I've been trying—as much as one can when one's brother is a vigilante and the mayor—but if you could stay—”

“I told you once I was willing to stay for you,” Roy told her. “That hasn't changed.”

She wrapped her arms around him, holding on tight.

* * *

“I think they could be a cute couple,” Caitlin said, and Mon-El looked at her. She shrugged. She knew that she was far from an expert on love. She'd had Ronnie, and they were not what she would have expected. Then came Jay, and that was a disaster. Still, she thought that she saw what could be a bit of a spark there, maybe even before Lily asked Ray to dance. “They both love nanotechnology. That could start something. It doesn't have to, but it could.”

“Is that how it works on this planet?” Mon-El asked, and she frowned at him. “I thought I told you—Daxam had arranged marriages. This human concept of dating... It still doesn't make much sense to me. Is that what you need?”

Caitlin shrugged. “I'm not an expert on dating, either. I really only had Ronnie. After that... Well, I don't want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” Mon-El agreed, “but do you need this... spark for dancing? Because I've only really danced with Kara since I got to earth, and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't think we had a spark. And... well, I was going to ask you, but if it's only about a spark—does that mean that friends can't dance? We are friends, aren't we?”

Caitlin shook her head, almost certain that Mon-El was making the cultural differences an excuse, but she didn't mind so much in this case. “We definitely are. And I would be honored to dance with you, Valor.”

“And I with you, Lady Winter.” He took her hand with a smile, leading her out onto the dance floor. “Be honest—you hated that one, too.”

“Yes,” Caitlin agreed, though she smiled as he turned them around in slow circles.

“I want to say that I'm not leaving before we find the right name for you, but I don't actually know how long we'll stay after this party. I heard Barry and Oliver say they're not sure the Dominators are gone, and I'm not, either,” Mon-El admitted. “I... Compared to all of our legends, that was too easy, and normally I like it when things are easy, but not this.”

“I agree. I'm worried we're not done with the Dominators,” Caitlin said. “As long as we're watching for them and careful—hopefully we'll still be ready if they come back. Though... you're welcome to stay for as long as you like.”

“Are you sure about that? Because I'm pretty sure there are some gentlemen over there giving me the—how did Winn phrase that again—the stink eye.”

Caitlin looked over at Barry and Joe and laughed. “Joe's protective of all of us. We're all like his kids—with HR being the exception—and I'm not so sure it's me they're frowning about. Wally really shouldn't be on his feet, but he and Jessie are doing their own awkward shuffle right over there.”

“Ah,” Mon-El said. “Then we're safe to enjoy a friendly dance. As friends.”

Caitlin laughed. “Why are you so sure someone is going to be upset by this? I'm a widow—”

“What does that mean?”

“My husband died,” she explained. She knew that Mon-El wasn't asking to hurt her, but it did. Thinking about Ronnie wasn't as painful as it used to be, though. She knew that she would always miss him, but she had a good support system. Her friends were there for her, and working with the Flash gave her life purpose, something she'd almost lost when the particle accelerator exploded.

“Oh,” Mon-El said. “I know I said it before, but I'm sorry.”

“I know,” she said. “Isn't it about now that you say that we should do something to stop those dreary thoughts?”

“I thought that was what the dancing was for,” he said, and she laughed. “Who's that dancing with Sara?”

Caitlin looked over. “Oh, that's Captain Lance. Her father. Barry ran over to Star City to grab him for the party. That, and I think he wanted to take his mind off of the other Flash not staying. Not Wally. Jay. The man looks a lot like Henry, and that... It hurts as much as I think it helps some.”

Mon-El nodded. “I noticed most of the people from other worlds were in a hurry to get back. Kara's cousin didn't even say a word to me before going. J'onn didn't, either. Somehow I don't think I'd be very welcome at a hero party on my own earth.”

Caitlin shook her head. “I think they're just concerned with leaving their own worlds undefended. If Barry and everyone else headed over to your world, we'd be worried, too.”

“And if they do really hate me?”

“Then... you keep doing what you're doing and prove them wrong,” she said, frowning as Barry tapped Mon-El on the shoulder.

“Can I cut in for just a minute?” Barry asked, and Mon-El frowned. “I just... I haven't had a chance to talk to Caitlin about what she did on that roof, and I'd like to, if you don't mind.”

Caitlin gave Mon-El a smile, though she wasn't sure about this. She didn't really want to discuss using her powers again. Ever. Barry took her hand, and she wished she was as drunk this time as she had been when they sang karaoke.

“Try and relax,” Barry told her. “I promise I won't step on your toes.”

“Funny, I think I did that last time,” Caitlin said. “I just... Don't expect me to make this a habit, Barry. I... I don't want to be out there full time, and we still don't know that I won't become Killer Frost if I do use my powers.”

“I know, but that doesn't mean I can't thank you for risking it today,” he said, giving her a smile. “I know I shouldn't be glad that you did because we can't afford to lose you, but I am grateful all the same. It... It means a lot to me that you were there, and knowing that as we keep going against Savitar and Prometheus—”

“We're taking on Oliver's bad guy?”

“Yes. At least, I hope we are. He hasn't fully committed to that, but I think that we're all fooling ourselves if we think that handling everything on our own is what we have to do to be heroes. It's a mistake, a huge one, and I made it before. I don't want to make it again. I could have saved so many lives if I'd helped Oliver or asked him for help, and I will regret that for the rest of my life. I don't want to feel that way again. If I need help, I'm going to ask, and I want to ask the right people. That includes you. I mean that.”

She smiled. “You'll always have my help, Barry.”

* * *

“So I hear that you still have a big, dangerous enemy out there,” Mon-El said as he walked up to where Oliver stood next to Kara. “I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?”

“No, your friend here was just masterfully putting that agent in his place,” Oliver said, smiling. “Barry owes you more than he knows.”

She shrugged. “I don't know that it's enough, but I don't want him negotiating for your planet if the Dominators ever come back or other non-friendly aliens show up, especially since I won't always be here to help, much as I'd like to be.”

Oliver nodded. “I appreciate that. Cisco said he was working on a device to make asking you for help a lot easier, but I haven't seen him since he gave Roy the ability to return to Star City if he wants. Which means I owe him. Again. Even if Roy isn't going to take up the whole hood thing again, he's a good friend to my sister, and she could use one of them right now, with Laurel gone.”

Kara smiled. “It's good to have friends. I wish... Well, when Barry got stranded last year, he looked for people he knew that could help him, and my earth didn't have any of you. I am going to miss you. All of you. Even though National City has the Guardian now, it could still use a bit of Green Arrow. And the Flash.”

“You helped us. We can return the favor, though I think right now we're a little busy since Barry somehow pissed off a god as well as aliens,” Oliver muttered, shaking his head. “I swear, sometimes...”

“He's a good friend to have, though, and not just because he's fast,” Kara said. “And now I think someone here owes me a dance.”

Oliver frowned. “What? No. I don't dance. Even if Lyla told you otherwise, it's not true. I did not promise her any such dance at her wedding to Dig.”

Kara laughed. “Well, I could make you do it, but I was actually talking about Mon-El.”

He looked at her with a frown, but Oliver smiled right before Kara dragged him onto the dance floor. He wondered if she'd used him to prove a point to Oliver or if she actually wanted this dance. “Kara, I think—”

“You can't stay here.”

“What?”

“I've been waiting for a chance to talk to you since the president finished her speech,” Kara said, and Mon-El wondered if it was worth telling her that she was leading. He supposed that would just be something Krypton did right and Daxam didn't. “I know that this place must seem better because you have a lot more friends here. They accepted you without bias, without the things I put you through or the disapproval from Alex or J'onn and Clark—oh, Clark was almost unreasonable, but even though I know that the Dominators might not be gone forever and Sara wants you to stay to help them if the Thanagarans do come to Earth and Caitlin could use your help to keep developing her confidence with her powers—we need you, too. I mean, I do. We do. The DEO.”

Mon-El frowned, stopping in the middle of the dance. “Kara, why would you think I'd—is this about how I left Daxam? You think I'd just abandon a planet first chance I got?”

“No. I'm just worried... It's not enough. I'm not enough,” Kara said. She grimaced. “Back on Earth, you barely have anything, and you have a lot more here already, but I don't... I don't want to lose you. I know that's selfish of me. You should have friends and feel valued, and I shouldn't force you back where you don't feel either of those things.”

Mon-El shook his head. “I don't—I know I disappoint you, and I know no one else there really likes me besides the women that buy me drinks, but that doesn't mean that I have to stay here to feel like I'm wanted. I'd like to stay for a bit because you're right about the Dominators and about Caitlin—she's different. I have never had a friendship like hers. The women I know are usually a lot more—”

“Promiscuous?” Kara finished for him, and he sighed. “Sorry. That was uncalled for.”

“The point is, she makes me a better person and a better friend,” Mon-El said. “With her, I did something... selfless, almost, and I didn't even think about it. I just... wanted to, and not because I was trying to impress her or because I was trying to mate with her—I genuinely wanted to help her. That's so rare for me... I'm not even sure I can say that I've done that with you.”

Kara nodded. “I know. And it's a good thing. I can't help being a little... jealous that she brings that out in you and I don't.”

“Well, I still wouldn't have come if not for you, so there is that,” Mon-El told her. “You believed in me first. She just... understands a part that you don't because even when you were hiding your powers, being a hero was a part of you. That... was not me. And it isn't Caitlin, either. Her way of helping people is different. Mine didn't exist. So yes, I want to keep that, but I don't have to stay for that. I should actually go running back to Earth where no one expects anything of me, but... I think I might just stay here for a bit, in case the Dominators come back or I can help with the other thing. Did you know there's some theory about the ancient gods on this planet actually being aliens? Cisco told me that, and if that's true, maybe this Savitar is a species one of us knows.”

“Maybe,” Kara agreed. “I think it's a good thing we're not all going our separate ways, not yet.”


End file.
